Patrons of Discovery Breakfast: Working Together for Future Scientists and Mariners
On September 30, more than 150 individuals and 25 industry partners joined us to help raise up future scientists and mariners by sharing breakfast and contributing to the future of marine science and maritime education in our region. Through the generosity of our awesome community, we raised more than $46,000, which will be used to directly support our upcoming programs and provide scholarship funding. Thank YOU for being a part of that effort!
Some highlights from our hour-long event included a great conversation with Puget Sound Pilots Executive Director Linda Styrk and Jeff Renner, which focused on the maritime sector as a vibrant part of the Puget Sound region and the number of opportunities here for future mariners to find meaningful, high-wage employment. She spoke to her own experience in finding maritime education as a tangible, applied focus for STEM learning (like, for example, spherical trigonometry!) and the value of providing students real-world applications for subjects like high level math without losing them in academic boredom. RIGHT ON, Linda!
We also heard from our rock star student alumni from Rainier High School, seniors Azhanae, Wanjiku and Zion. Wanjiku shared that she was “not really interested in what we do in school,” but that “with Salish, we got to not just learn through a picture, but through a real, hands-on experience.” These were three kids who had zero interest in the marine environment, and all came away from Salish with a huge perspective shift. Zion blew us away with his challenge to all of us to “say yes” to more diverse experience that takes us outside of our comfort zone. He said: “Salish was one of the best experiences of my life,” and in an unrehearsed moment of gratitude, expressed his thanks for the scholarship funding that is made possible through this important annual event. These students, and so many others, are the reason we are all here, working hard to bring the Salish learning experience to even more students!
If you missed this fantastic event, you still have an opportunity to make a donation here in support of our hands-on learning, hands on deck programming, giving students a chance to become scientists and mariners through student-led exploration on the Salish Sea. THANK YOU!
Finally, we are so appreciative to our sponsors for their financial support and commitment to marine science and maritime education, and also to Saltworks for donating the “Salish” smoked sea salt packets as parting gifts (yum!) A special thanks to the awesome staff at Bell Harbor for another fabulous event.
If you’d like to share feedback about your experience at our breakfast, you can email raves and critiques to info@salish.org. Your input helps us improve our efforts to reach more folks and be more effective, so thanks.
