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summer 2006
just 30 minutes from the bronx 
Rocking the Boat's boatbuilding partnership with Philipsburg Manor, a living history museum located in Sleepy Hollow, NY, has gotten bigger
and better every summer since it began in 2004. The first year was tremendously exciting, working outside in a primitive riverside workshop,
wearing colonial period clothing, using crude hand tools, and interpreting the whole process of constructing a traditional river bateau for
museum visitors. Last year, the students' experience was enlivened through building a different boat design - a sturdy, flat bottomed cargo
scow - and learning the art of wooden barrel-making. In addition, they had the chance to explore not just Philipsburg's gorgeous setting
including a mill, farm, and barns, but also her sister museum property, Van Cortlandt Manor.
In 2006, we are expanding the scope of the program at Philipsburg both by increasing the number of days students spend at the site and adding two new activities to the schedule. Starting July 5th and running for six and a half weeks, 16 boatbuilders will alternate their four days per week constructing an 18th-century boat, practicing coopering, helping with various restoration projects on the Manor House and grounds, and both swimming in a YMCA pool and paddling canoes along the Pocantico River. This new structure will allow Rocking the Boat boatbuildng students to spend their entire summer outside of New York City and have an even more dynamic variety of new and different experiences. While Philipsburg is physically only 30 minutes outside of New York City, it is truly a trip back in time. Getting there is simple for anyone wishing to see the program in action. Directions Financial support for this program is provided by the J.E. & Z.B. Butler Foundation, the Daniel K. Thorne Foundation and the Litwin Foundation summer 2006 rocking the boat launches job skills initiative 
Rocking the Boat is thrilled to announce the piloting this summer of a new Job Skills
initiative focused on wooden boatbuilding. This scaled-down version of the program will allow six former students to be paid to spend the semester
learning more advanced technical skills and receiving a range of job readiness experiences.
The new program grew out of Rocking the Boat's thriving Apprenticeship Program, which enables 11 students per semester to help teach boatbuilding and on-water classes. What Apprenticeships do for program veterans who want to be leaders and work with young people, the Job Skills program will do for experienced and talented students who are more interested in honing their woodworking or maritime skills and prepare themselves to enter the workforce. As the basis of their work and learning, these trainees will take on the necessary task of repairing and restoring Rocking the Boat's 17 traditional wooden boats, and in doing so fulfill a critical need for the sustainability of the On-Water Program. And as time allows, they will be able to take on commissions and for the first time, enabling Rocking the Boat to build boats for paying customers. They will receive a highly job-oriented experience, their focus being on demonstrating independence, responsibility, efficiency, and professionalism. The Boatbuilding Educator will also take time to work closely with each of the students to explore their professional futures. They will be introduced to a range of professions that relate to their work such as carpentry, construction trades, and boatyard work, as well as taken to visit local colleges and trade schools, and will be trained in resume writing and personal presentation. The Job Skills initiative is being made possible by a generous grant from the Student Social Venture Fund at New York University's Stern School of Business. |
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