Salmonberry School’s first through forth grade class recently returned from a two-day field trip Sept. 14 and 15 to Port Townsend where they had a learning adventure aboard the 110-foot hundred-year-old wooden sailing ship, The Adventuress.

Salmonberry students, teachers, parents and grandparents took part in a wide range of activities aboard the schooner. Students participated in a plankton tow and looked at planktonic organisms using the ship’s on-board microscopes. They also hoisted sails, learned about ship navigation, steered the boat, learned about watersheds, and sang a few sea shanties. The field trip included sharing poetry and silent reflection while on board.

“The sailing was hands-on learning at its best and exemplified many key principles of Salmonberry School’s educational philosophy,” program director Paul Freedman said. “Deep learning happens with the wind in your hair.”

The learning experience was a way for the school to teach hands-on learning by doing marine science in the field alongside professionals. The students worked in multi-generational teams that emphasized community.

“We look for opportunities to take the kids out of the school building’s four walls and bring them into the world, where the learning process often can benefit from a richer and more visceral context,” Freedman said.

The field trip was the beginning of a place-based study of the Salish Sea over several months. Students will learn about the sea’s natural history, human history and cultures, and ecology.

Freedman said, “We believe it is very important to help root children deeply in the place they live, and to make learning relevant to their particular lives, in this particular place. When we decided to focus this fall on a place-based study of the Salish Sea, the first obvious question was ‘how do we get the kids into the water?’”

First grade student August Groenenger said of The Adventuress, “Awesome!”