Tabor Academy has the unique privilege of being located on the waterfront. This position allows for a lot of exploration of the local marine ecosystems as well as a lot of sailing opportunities. When welcoming visitors, the waterfront and all of the exciting prospects that it provides is a wonderful introduction to campus and a great opportunity for outsiders to witness.
On March 30, the entire student body of Our Sisters’ School, an all-girls school in New Bedford, came to visit Tabor with a few faculty members. They were guided through hands-on marine and nautical science stations, learning all of the fun and educational opportunities that Tabor has to offer.
There were stations set up for Seamanship, Specimen Trap Recovery, Aquaculture, Touch Tanks, and Safety at Sea/Survival Craft. Our Sisters’ School’s students broke up into five groups, and a crew member of the school’s schooner, Tabor Boy, aided the Tabor faculty working each station.
“Students cycled through all five learning stations,” said Captain Zane Randall. “They had the opportunity to interact with local marine invertebrates, learn the basics of sea survival, get up close and personal with the life that is found off our docks and in our waters, as well as get a hands-on idea of what it takes to work onboard a ship.”
The day came to a close at the Waterfront where Captain Dave Bill taught the entire group the infamous Sea Wolf Salute, as told by Randall.
Jay Cassista, Jenny Albright, Elizabeth Leary, and David Bill also led stations for the visiting students. These faculty members all teach marine or nautical science electives or work on the Tabor Boy.
“My station was ‘Sea Survival’,” said Captain Bill. “The visitors got to try on survival suits and we got as many visitors as could fit into the life raft.” Afterward, some of the visitors competed in a Survival Suit donning race. Bill said they competed against each other and “against the watch” to put survival suits on as quickly as possible.
The 67 Our Sisters’ School students spent 25 minutes at each station getting a pretty in-depth look at Tabor’s Marine programs. This is an experience not offered at every school, and being able to share our incredible nautical and marine science programs with other local students widens the scope of the amount of knowledge Tabor can impart. It’s a privilege not only to experience Tabor’s programs, but to be able to share them as well.
By Madeleine Gregory