Investing in Access at our 10th Annual Patrons of Discovery Breakfast
As our sailing season comes to an end, I want to take a moment to thank you for supporting Salish Sea Expeditions and the students we serve. Your investment in these students means a lot to me and to 8th graders, like Benjamin and Mathias, from Alderwood Middle School in Lynnwood, WA, who joined us for a 3-day expedition and then courageously shared their stories at our annual Breakfast.
When asked about a memorable moment, Benjamin told us he was inspired by the feeling of “the cool air of the sea” and by imagining “the deep unexplored areas where researchers haven’t fully studied yet. Before Salish, my experience with the Sound was going to the locks multiple times and going boating once. I remember thinking the Sound was like a mysterious other dimension. After exploring it with Salish, it is an interesting, beautiful and diverse part of our planet that I want to learn more about.”
For Mathias, his source of inspiration was a classmate who “took on a leadership role different from how he is in school.” In Mathias’s words, “Reuben took charge mainly during the science portion while I took charge of the sailing bit. Using the research equipment, especially the niskin bottle, was challenging for me. It was so different from anything I had ever seen before. Reuben really knew what he was doing, especially with the niskin bottle!”
As one teacher reflected, “individual students take-in and process things differently, so they work collectively. It is really fun to see this in motion.”
Students like Benjamin and Mathias are our inspiration. As Dr. Daniel Siegel says, working with youth is a “pay-it-forward investment for everyone involved,” and as the stories below reflect, we have so much to learn from them.
Fair Winds,
Seth Muir, Executive Director
Salish Sea Expeditions
