S.S.E.A.
A Sound Summer Exploring Aquaculture is a summer program that the New Haven Board of Education and the cooperating public school districts of Cheshire, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, North Branford, North Haven and West Haven have created. It is a unique three week academic and vocational marine education summer enrichment program for middle school students. The Sound School Regional Vocational Aquaculture Center is the site for the three-week program that serves over 150 students.
The summer program's primary goals are:
- To provide a unique learning experience in the marine sciences that is not available anywhere else in the region.
- To bring together students of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds from neighboring communities in the Greater New Haven area, enabling them to get to know one another, form friendships, and overcome fears and stereotypes that develop from segregation and isolation between communities.
The Sound Summer Program consists of nine curricular modules spanning three levels of instruction. The first year curriculum includes Marine Math and Navigation, Marine Technology I (lobster pot construction) and Maritime Connections (a study of local history and social development). Second-year level instruction includes modules in Marine Science Practicum, Marine Technology II (fishing rod construction) and the Sail Training and Seamanship/Small Boat Program using the several rowing dories and small sailing sharpies. Field/boat trips, on-the-water activities, laboratories and hands-on /take home projects are all significant components of the Sound Summer Program at all levels and are designed to complement classroom learning. Field trips typically visit the Norwalk Maritime Center, Lighthouse Point, the New Haven Colony Historical Society, Meig's Point Nature Center and the different ecological regions of the Hamonassett Beach Park, and Lake Saltonstall and Lakes Maltby. First and second year students are on the water frequently, continuing their education aboard research vessels for a more hands-on experience. The most memorable trip for a second-year student is the extended day deep sea fishing trip, aboard the ferry, Island Rover, practicing boating safety, navigation and seamanship skills.
Third year students have three five-day modules which include; Science Along Connecticut's waterways, (proficiency in maneuverability and emergency handling of canoes), Adventure Teamwork (leadership training safety, trust, and team building skills, and Marine Ecology (studying the ecological diversity of the region, while performing community service at the Connecticut Coastal Center, at Milford Point). Field trips are a daily event, and include the West River, Farm River, Quinnipiac River, Mill River, Lake Wintergreen, Deer Lake Reservation, Hamonassett Beach Park, and Milford Point. The third year experience culminates in an overnight camping trip for all students and staff at Deer Lake.
Emphasis throughout the entire three years of the Sound Summer Program is on cooperation, teamwork and learning together, as opposed to competition. Through cooperative classroom and practical learning activities and on-the-water collaboration, students closely interact with their peers from different racial, ethnic and community backgrounds and begin to develop friendships. These new friendships strengthen for the students who chose to return for the second and third years of the program as challenges become more difficult and the program more intensive.
Programs | Adult Education | I.M.E.P.
