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ADVENTURE GUIDES
WHAT q To promote a healthy sense of self-respect and inspire personal confidence among participating youth; q To encourage the acquisition of skills, in boat building, sailing and other related areas; q To support positive interaction between children or youth and their parents or mentors, as they share the experience of building and sailing a boat together. WHY IS THIS PROGRAM IMPORTANT?Research indicates that children who develop a strong sense of confidence through the acquisition of meaningful skills and positive interactions with peers and adults are more likely to be successful, productive citizens in both school and life. However, in today’s fast-paced world many children and young people lack opportunities to engage in positive, purposeful and/or constructive activities with adults. Additionally, today’s school settings are highly focused on academic skills, but generally do not provide instruction in concrete practical skills, such as working with one’s hands, using tools. Further, there is a fairly narrow range of sports activities available, with very few youngsters exposed to the tradition of sailing, a sport which offers the potential for a lifetime of individual pleasure and continued learning.
WHAT TYPES OF BOATS WILL BE USED IN THE PROGRAM?
HOW IS THE PROGRAM BEING STRUCTURED?
This program is being founded by a core group of a working group of several volunteers, all of whom are familiar with wood working in general and the building of wooden boats in particular, and have both experience and expertise in sailing. This group has affiliated with the YMCA of NWNC to make the program available. Currently, initial construction of a sample boat is nearing completing, as well as the refurbishing of several existing prams. Soon, construction kits will be ready, and the first participants will be enrolled to begin work in September, 2007. By summer, 2008, there should be enough boats completed to allow for group sailing experiences, even as additional participants are enrolled to begin constructing the second round of boats. WHAT IS INVOLVED IN PARTICIPATING?
In some cases, a parent may wish to cover the expenses of the materials for the boat, build the boat with their son or daughter, and, of course, then own the boat. In other cases, we will obtain sponsors to cover the cost of the materials, recruit youngsters involved with a participating organization, secure an adult mentor to work with them, and then have the boat continue to be used by both that youngster and others involved in their sending organization. HOW WILL THE PROGRAM OPERATE?
We anticipate that participants will vary in their ability to meet the financial cost and that their wood working skills will range from beginners’ level to those with more experience. We plan to structure a flexible and adaptive environment to meet a wide range of these conditions, with expert volunteers providing guidance, instruction, and assistance as needed throughout the project. We also expect that some children will work with one or both of their parents, while others will work with a mentor. We have currently arranged with The Children’s Home to use one of their buildings as the site for constructing the boats. During the building phase the child and adult will bond more deeply as they meet a shared goal. Throughout this period the child will learn useful skills, such as working with hand and power tools, reading and understanding drawings, following written instructions and taking guidance from an adult. During the sailing phase of the project children will be required to know or learn how to swim. They will receive instruction in sailing: a sport that is a lifetime recreation. In addition, the youngsters will learn related skills, such as knot tying, sail trimming, reading the clouds as they relate to wind and weather, the importance of maintaining the boat and equipment and many other skills. In every phase, the boys and girls will gain self-confidence, as well as appropriate social etiquette for handling winning and losing races. IF YOU
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