Education Programs

The Schooner Adventure offers an array of educational programming. These programs are available for presentation in schools, parks and eventually on board the Schooner Adventure transforming the historic dory-fishing schooner into a floating museum of the North American fisheries.

2013 Schooner Adventure education offerings booklet

Skippy’s Adventure Program

This assembly program utilizes our beautifully illustrated children’s book, Skippy Finds Adventure, which tells the story of Adventure’s mascot of 15 years. Skippy, a wharf dog followed the engineer aboard Adventure in 1936 and stayed. Through Skippy’s eyes find out what life was like on Gloucester’s last dory fishing schooner. Meet some of the crew who became part of Skippy’s family and see what their daily work was like.

Traveling Dory Program

Traveling to schools, parks, and maritime festivals, this program retells the exciting story of handlining and dory fishing utilizing historic photographs, film clips, charts, maps and artifacts. This presentation will bring to life the history, men and methods for over 100 years of dory fishing.

Gloucester Working Waterfront Walking Tour

Join us for a stroll along Gloucester’s Working Waterfront to visit sites of the various companies that use to occupy the harbor. By retracing old maps and looking at historic photos, we will go back in time to the late 1800′s, the heyday of Gloucester’s fishing.

Adventure’s Chantey Singers

Our dedicated group of volunteer chantey singers represent Schooner Adventure at festivals and schools bringing the history and stories of sea chanteys where ever they go.

Oceanography Program

Homeschool groups, Girl and Boy Scouts can work on their Oceanography unit or badge learning about waves, breakwaters, flotsam vs. jetsam, endangered fish, charts vs. maps and compasses. Programs end with fish printing and a sea chantey sing.

A Gloucester Adventure –  History and Art Program

A program consisting of 5 guided tours, students will visit various sites learning about the history of Gloucester related to that spot with the assistance of maps, charts, pictures, paintings, journals and other primary resources.

Onboard Adventure Programs

Once we finish the restoration, we will have 2 versions of onboard programs – dockside and sailing. Both of these programs will involve stations with hands on activities using a variety of materials on deck (compasses, timelines, charts and maps…) and in the fishhold classroom (digital microscopes, computers, graphs…)

School Collaborations

We are also working in collaboration with local vocational school programs. Our partnership with the Merrimack Special Education Collaborative has resulted in the building of a pram using proper boatbuilding techniques and equipment by the high school students there. Our Landmark School project will provide the students there with the needed oversight and instruction as they build  Grand Banks dories. It is our hope that by exposing these vocational students to boat building skills that they will gain the needed expertise to help keep  boatbuilding and historical vessel preservation skills alive for the future.