The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md. will host the 2017 Teaching with Small Boats Alliance conference beginning Thursday, April 27 and continuing through Saturday, April 29, 2017. The three-day conference enables participating maritime educators to facilitate collaboration, encourage idea sharing, identify and share best practices and projects, and strengthen connections between organizations and individuals. Conference participation is limited, with pre-registration needed.
The conference also encourages the participation of K-12 educators interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), Career & Technical Education (CTE), and other maritime-related education components.
The biennial conference includes hands-on activities, presentations, and panel discussions that encourage attendees to explore and discuss the relationships between small and large boat programming. The conference was most recently hosted in 2015 at the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend, Wash., and in 2013 at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Conn.
Participants in this year’s conference will discuss how to use a maritime heritage museum as the focus of regional efforts involving other maritime organizations and school systems, and how to make stronger connections to post-secondary education and careers. Presentation topics include “Connecting Students to History,” “Success with St. Ayles Skiffs,” and more.
Conference registration is open through April 14, 2017, and is $50 per registrant for a single day or $150 for all three days, including meals. Pre-registration and details, including lodging options, are at bit.ly/twsba2017.
The Teaching with Small Boats Alliance is a collaboration of educators and programs throughout the United States and Canada that teach math, science, and other essential skills through the process of boat building. Through bi-annual conferences and virtual collaboration, TWSBA works to improve the effectiveness of its member organizations by sharing information and best practices about program development and leadership, hands-on building projects, and integration of maritime-based lessons into school curriculum. More information about TWSBA is at teachingwithsmallboats.org.
Established in 1965, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a world-class maritime museum dedicated to preserving and exploring the history, environment, and people of the entire Chesapeake Bay, with the values of relevancy, authenticity, and stewardship guiding its mission. Serving more than 75,000 guests each year, CBMM’s campus includes a floating fleet of historic boats and 12 exhibition buildings, situated in a park-like, waterfront setting along the Miles River and St Michaels harbor. Charitable gifts to the museum’s Annual Fund enable CBMM to preserve and restore the world’s largest collection of Chesapeake Bay watercraft, with more information at www.cbmm.org
