April 19, 2024 • 31 mins
In this episode, Cassie talks with Juliet Fluty, who has been interning with Educational Passages. Juliet is also a student at the University of New England studying Educational Studies and Marine Biology. Over the last couple of months, she has focused on relaunching the Mini Maine miniboat with students in Maine and Ireland. Hear all about the project and learning that has happened so far. For more information about the project, visit educationalpassages.org/boats/minimaine, and more about the trip to Ireland at educationalpassages.org/miniboat-magic-in-ireland/.
To access the special VIDEO version of this podcast, visit https://youtu.be/TkgUT8eFpOo.
Educational Passages is a non-profit organization that seeks to connect people around the world to the ocean and each other through unique global experiences.
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Episode Transcript
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Cassie (00:09):
Welcome to the Educational Passages podcast.
Educational Passages is anonprofit organization that
seeks to connect people aroundthe world to the ocean and each
other through unique globalexperiences.
I'm your host, Cassie Stymiest.
Today I'm sitting down withJuliet Fluty.
(00:32):
Juliet has been interning withus at Educational Passages over
the last couple of months.
She's a student at theUniversity of New England
studying educational studies andmarine biology.
She took on the task ofconnecting students from
Biddeford, Maine, to Irelandwith the Mini Maine Mini Boat.
So last episode I was chattingwith Lisa Swanson and our trip
to Ireland had been a dream atthat point.
(00:52):
Team is the dream, which wasactually the title of that
podcast episode.
How appropriate.
Fast forward a month and a halfand we went to Ireland.
Juliet (01:03):
Yeah, we did.
Cassie (01:04):
And it was absolutely epic, and it has taken us a
month to get our bearings back.
Juliet (01:10):
And it was a trip that, because we did so much in a
short period of time, it took usa while to like process the
impact that we had over there.
So to everyone who's beenwaiting, we appreciate your
patience and we are ready toabsolutely just dump out our
luggage from Ireland and talkabout everything that we did and
(01:32):
all the impact and the amazingthings that happened while we
were there.
Cassie (01:53):
you're so right, juliet, um, taking that time to really
think about what happened I mean10 days but felt like we were
tens of hundreds of kids andpeople connected, if you really
think about it yeah so let'stell some of those stories about
what we did.
We tried to put it all in aquick little video on social
media, but it does not do itjustice.
Juliet (02:10):
Like coming into it from a perspective of like how
educational passages is a newprogram for me and for me, like
you know, seeing it from anoutsider's perspective of like
realizing the impact that yourprogram has on like the whole
world Like it sounds a littlebit like dramatic, but like just
(02:32):
getting into it and seeing,like from the period of time
that you've joined till now,seeing how much of a broader
impact that this has had on notonly communities like in the US,
but communities in Ireland, andconnecting on not only
communities like in the US butcommunities in Ireland and
connecting, you know, globallybut also, you know, in Ireland.
Connecting people and havingthat kind of shared passion for,
(02:53):
like ocean conservation andeducation and giving these kids
the opportunity is just likeit's so cool.
Cassie (02:59):
It's nice to really step back and see what some of those
impacts have been and to hearfrom some of the students how
they took part in the programand how they remember it some of
them two, three years later andtheir reactions and how excited
they were about being herebecause, like that's such a
thing that I feel like as aneducator's perspective with me,
(03:20):
like substitute teaching,student teaching, whatever you
want to call it that's a hugelack right now is like the
students are.
Juliet (03:26):
Like you know, I can just Google this.
What's the point of doingsomething you know hands-on, or
like reading a book aboutsomething, if I can just look it
up and know the answer?
You know what I mean.
So, like doing a project likethis and seeing how excited
those kids were and how much itstuck and how much they
remembered and you know ustalking about the ocean currents
, like why does a boat end upsomewhere?
And having a kid genuinelyunderstand and know like at 10
(03:50):
years old, know about oceancurrents and know about those
kinds of things and bepassionate about it, was like
amazing.
Cassie (03:56):
I want to be so excited about.
You know boats that came fromAmerica or boats that came from
another place, and the faces onthose kids when you brought the
pictures of your Biddefordstudents and the pen pal letters
is a core memory.
Their reaction was justunbelievable.
And so talk about beinginvolved in a program for a long
(04:18):
time and remembering it.
Let's talk a little bit moreabout the mini main project that
brought us there, and we'll getinto some of the other bits too
.
So you are an intern atUniversity of New England, and
so that's in Maine in the US.
I'm also an alum of UNE alittle bit earlier than you, but
(04:38):
it's really nice to be able togive back and to have you join
us at Educational Passages.
Tell us a little bit more aboutwhat this internship is and why
you're doing it.
Juliet (04:47):
I'm a education and marine science major at uni, so
in order for me to walk acrossthe stage with a cap and gown, I
have to do a internship andit's kind of like student
teaching, but it was more alongthe lines of like I don't
necessarily want to workdirectly into a classroom.
I was more passionate aboutteaching marine science.
(05:08):
That's where my expertise is istalking about the ocean and
getting kids excited about it,and I feel like we should share
the story anyway because I thinkit's hilarious.
So originally, when I wrote upand proposed to my professors
what I want to do, I called itthe Blue Horizons Global
Initiative and it was this likeeight page document of how much
(05:32):
I really wanted to travel andteach and talk about the ocean
and somehow integrate.
You know STEM education and youknow connect classrooms and
everything else.
So we were connected throughour dear lovely friend Carol and
Carol Steinhardt and she.
I went and had lunch withCassie and I had originally
(05:54):
emailed her that long,ridiculous proposal of what I
wanted to do, and me and Cassiewent out to lunch together and
she let me ramble about it whileshe was sitting there just her
jaw on the floor the wholeentire time.
Cassie (06:06):
Well, meanwhile, you didn't know what Educational
Passages was or that we existedin any way.
Yeah Right, I think it'simportant for the audience to
know that.
Juliet (06:15):
I had absolutely no idea what her program was.
I just knew that this was, youknow, a plug for me to possibly
do something I actually wantedto do.
So we sit down and have lunchand she let me ramble about what
I want to do and all of mydreams and hopes and wonders.
The little wide-eyed collegestudent I am and Cassie had
(06:38):
literally just put the miniMaine project on the shelf.
It was a boat that was built byfive Southern Maine students in
20.
It was a boat that was built byfive Southern Maine students in
20.
Cassie (06:46):
Yeah, and in 2012.
And you know that was waybefore I came on to EP, so we
didn't really have theconnections like we do now,
where the kids are building theboat, they're naming it, they're
doing all of the work,decorating the sail, all of the
hands on components.
So in 2012, the program was alittle different.
I mean, we weren't even anonprofit until 2013.
But it was really cool.
(07:14):
You know that it was a verylocalized project.
They brought the boat to acouple different schools,
including these five SouthernMaine schools.
Board members launched theMiniMaine coincidentally,
launched it the same day asCrimson Tide, which is the boat
we talked about in the lastepisode from Morristown Baird,
their very first one that wasjust recently relaunched.
(07:34):
So that's a whole nother deepdive in itself, but these boats
were launched December 1st 2012.
And I'll just spill the beansnow.
It took seven years andMiniMaine ended up in Waterville
in County Kerry, ireland, andit was recovered by a wonderful
person named Rosemary Hill.
It was brought to the nearbyscience center there and they
(07:55):
did a project with it all schoolyear the Ocean Champions
Project from the MarineExplorers Education Program, and
they got some judges specialaward.
They had really learned aboutthe voyage of the Mini Maine,
about boat building, about themarine animals in the ocean
under the places where the miniMaine sailed.
They shared about St Brendan'svoyage all of these really
awesome components.
(08:15):
But they didn't have the USMaine school pen pals part, as
we try to encourage withprojects now, and so we were
kind of missing that.
They did a great job over inIreland but we were really
missing this US connection andwe weren't able to fundraise to
get the sensors added as thesecond part of this relaunch in
Ireland and so we had to put iton the shelf.
(08:37):
And we put it on the shelf inNovember.
The Ireland students reallywanted to move forward with it,
but we just didn't have theresources to do it.
So that's the background ofbefore.
I met you a month later and sowe're sitting at the diner.
You told me your initiative, Isaid how I read it and said I
have a proposal or project thatparallels this in every single
(08:57):
way, and we unearthed the minimain relaunch project.
Juliet (09:02):
You and I just like clicked right away.
It was one of those things thatwas just like almost freaky.
Cassie (09:08):
How we had taken the same core reef class at UNE with
Jerry Fox and we both recognizethat those kinds of experiences
and being out in the world andmeeting people in different
places really can set you on adifferent path.
So we're both inspired by thatand you really took this and ran
with it.
You had already been connectedwith the classroom in Maine, so
(09:30):
tell us about your Biddefordstudents.
Juliet (09:32):
Yeah, so I've been substitute teaching at Biddeford
since probably freshman orsophomore year of UNE.
The community at Biddeford isjust absolutely amazing.
I've been involved in, liketheir theater program and, you
know, helping with their readingand writing support and I've
just like grown thatrelationship with the school.
So one of my really goodfriends, jerry Nason, who was a
(09:54):
student teacher last year Iconnected with him because he
just became a fourth gradeteacher this year and he had
expressed to me like when wewere hanging out over lunch or
whatever, he was like man, likethe only thing I'm really not
excited for is like teachingscience and stuff like that.
Um, he's like I'm just not ascience guy and I was like, well
, I gotta, I got a proposal foryou, um, so I kind of roped him
(10:15):
into the project and you know,honestly, like it just
emphasizes everything that ep Ithink is about is just like
supporting those teachers whofeel like they are so like
drowned in like all of thestandards that they have to meet
, while also, you know, meetingall of the needs for the
students that they have, all ofthe neurological differences,
all of the you know differentbackgrounds economically that
(10:38):
all the students come from.
So being able to like help afriend out while also, you know,
getting giving these kids likethe experience was amazing.
So in my Biddeford class wehave around 15 students from all
over the globe.
Biddeford is actually a verydiverse place.
Really great group of kids.
(10:58):
None of them really knew muchgoing into it about the ocean or
just you know science stuff ingeneral.
You know science stuff ingeneral.
They've been super engaged andthey've loved it and they are
like super, super excited tokeep the connection going with
our Ireland kids.
Cassie (11:18):
Right, and so coincidentally you know the
Ireland group were fourthgraders, fourth class, so same
age as the classroom you hadkind of picked for this project.
Juliet (11:28):
Double the size too.
Cassie (11:29):
Yeah, so we took the learnings and the projects that
they had done with the classesin Ireland for that Ocean
Champions project and you kindof put your spin on it and a
main spin and a sharing with themain students.
Some of the similar components,right?
So things like marine debris,boat building.
What were some of the otherlessons that you did?
Juliet (11:51):
um, we did geography of ireland as well.
Um, talking about differentanimals in ireland, um, one of
my favorites was our oceancurrents duck project, learning
about like a cargo ship that haddropped like tens of thousands
of like bath toys and then thebath toys ended up all over the
world.
And that's how we know aboutocean currents and things like
that.
Cassie (12:11):
So you got the kids in Bedford really, really excited
and you kind of slowlyintroduced that you had this
group of students in Irelandthat really wanted to connect.
What were their reactions tothat part of it?
Juliet (12:23):
Some of them like didn't think it was real.
Like some of them thought I wasgenuinely pranking them, Like
no, you're not actually going to.
Cassie (12:28):
Ireland.
Juliet (12:29):
Well, I thought it wasn't real for a while too, I
don't think I did either, but alot of them were like super
excited and it really sparked aconversation that is still
continuing like to this day withour kids.
They sparked a lot of questionsof like what kind of stuff do
they do?
Like it was obviously stuffthat was related to the project,
(12:50):
but also like socially theywere like what kind of stuff do
they do Like?
What do they do for fun, likethings like that, and it was
that was kind of cool to seelike their, their global
citizenship, kind of like sparkin that.
Cassie (12:58):
Yeah, so what were some of the preparations and things
that you did, um with bothplaces, um in getting ready to
go to Ireland, and why did we goto Ireland?
Juliet (13:11):
In preparation.
Um well, we got a new sail forthe mini-main relaunch that is
hopefully happening in the fall.
Cassie (13:15):
Yeah, because the mini-main showed up without a
sail, without much of anythingat all other than the word
mini-main and, I think,educational Passage's name on it
.
So yeah, the mast had come off,the sail had come off, it was
damaged during a storm.
But, it had also been out therefor seven years.
So I mean lots of stories totell We'll give it the benefit
of the doubt.
(13:38):
Yeah, and, as we know, with theprogram now, with the kids
having the ability to decoratethe sail and to name it, and all
of these things that give themthe interest to pay attention,
you know how do you do that?
With a boat that they'd neverseen or that they had never
known about until now, and sowe're like, oh well, why don't
we?
It needs a new sale anyway.
So let's have the studentsdecorate some of it over here.
We'll bring it over there andthat will be our connection is
that the physical sale, physicalsale.
Juliet (13:59):
And we had like a little sale design competition.
Shout out Wes, he's the onethat won, and the kids decorated
.
The top half was the main stateflag and then the bottom half
was the US flag.
And then when we went over tothe Artford School in Ireland,
we brought the sail with us,along with some letters that my
kids wrote for their studentsand our meet the fleet
(14:21):
worksheets is pretty much justlike an all about me thing, and
that did get them like really,really excited.
It's just like having thatphysical aspect of the project,
I think.
Cassie (14:31):
Yeah, and then we ended up going around the room in
Ireland asking more questions ofeach other and it turns out
they had already had a list oflike 10 questions each in their
journals too.
So it really helped spark someconversations and we've recorded
those reactions and broughtthem back and then you showed
the video to your students inBedford.
So you're really helping tofacilitate these global
(14:52):
citizenship questions andconversations and I mean I love
this in this day and age whereyou know it's not emails like no
, we're actually bringing thelegit paper and picture and the
drawings and helping studentsconnect in that way.
Although I do remember onequestion at the Artford School
and you're like all right, whoplays video games?
(15:14):
Hands just shot up, every singlehand went up and I don't know
how to think about that, but itis something that ended up
across the board some sharedinterest, right.
So all of a sudden it's like,oh, we play the same video games
, we do the same things, we playsports.
They're different sports.
You know, we eat food, it'sdifferent food.
(15:36):
And so to be able to kind ofsee, that I think is the mini
boat magic of educationalpassages in one way.
So the other thing, when we werethere the day before we went to
Ireland and I got to come withyou and see you in your element
and you had shared the work thatthey did with the Ocean
Champions Project, we reallymade that connection and they
(15:58):
signed their names on the sailand then we gave them mini boat
crew pins and they all put ontheir pins and then we took a
picture and we've got thispicture of your students with
the sail, and then the same sailwith the students in Ireland
and we asked them at the end youknow, will you guys help us out
(16:20):
?
We've got, you know, a littlebit more work to do.
Not just the sail, but here'sthe cargo box.
We want to put sensors in it,right, we want to collect some
information about the ocean andreally continue this project in
the fall and we asked them allif they would want to continue
and that was another hands upacross the board.
So I'm really excited this isall going to continue.
Juliet (16:41):
Yeah, me too.
I think just seeing the passionin those kids, like when we
were over there, and seeing howexcited they were and how they
want to learn more and see whereit goes, I think really just
sums up why you do what you do,why I want to do what I want to
do, it's just, it's really coolso you brought those videos back
(17:02):
to bitterford.
Cassie (17:03):
What?
Were those reactions inaddition to the, the lollipops
from from ireland yeah, thoselollipops were actually really
good.
Juliet (17:10):
They were like like taffy and the kids were trying
to suck on them like regularlollipops and they're like I can
chew it.
Anyway, overall, I lovedputting the video together.
I think one of the things I'velearned in this internship, too,
is I love sharing our messagelike that artistically.
I think it's one thing to likesend pictures and everything
(17:31):
like that, but for us to havelike the live footage of their
reactions, the live footage oftheir questions and the
communications like is a wholedifferent world and artistically
like I love you know it helpsme process all of our trip as
well of like the reallyimportant bits and pieces of the
communication between the kids.
Cassie (17:51):
We ended up capturing so much amazing things for the
trip and it would be great tokeep sharing those stories in
those ways.
Juliet (18:00):
Yeah, and I think too, it helps the kids as well,
because you have to think I willanswer your question, I promise
.
But you have to think likethey're growing up in an age
where, visually, they have to bestimulated Like for me
personally, like I, it's hardfor me to like sit and listen in
a lecture and just look atslides, like even in college,
(18:21):
and I feel like you're so muchmore engaged and you're so much
more interested in somethingwhen you're able to visually see
it and like the same aspects ofus when we teach, of, like all
of our hands-on work that we doyeah, not just visually.
Cassie (18:33):
It's the multiple learner thing is you have to,
and this is why I do the podcastright.
Here's one thing for anauditory way to listen to the
story, but you know, making it avideo version, so there's
something visual to see and andmaking sure everyone has access
to that information and to seethose stories is important too.
Yeah, yeah so anyway.
Juliet (18:49):
So anyway, back to our original point.
But the reactions of mystudents were, I think, really
interesting.
It was cool to see them connect, like we said, like the visual
of like oh, that's what, youknow, they look like us.
It sounds really weird, butlike they, you know, they are
our age and they are actually,you know, like in a classroom
(19:10):
like we have, and all thesimilarities and things like it
sparked more questions.
For sure.
I think it sparked theconversation and they were like
well, they're wearing schooluniforms and there's double the
kids in that classroom and likeall of these other things and
even some of my kids were askingabout, like the decorations on
their walls and things like that.
So having that connection thatway definitely is keeping the
(19:33):
conversation very lively andgoing and it's also like keeping
their engagement and theirexcitement for the project and
talking to kids from a differentcountry very much alive.
So like we sat and talked tothe Ardford kids for quite a
while, I think Like we extendedinto their recess a bit as well,
but you know they didn't mind.
Cassie (19:54):
I loved the recess bit after the formal presentation.
You know we were lucky to justhang out for a little bit and
the kids all flocked to you.
They were like they had so manymore questions and, you know,
so much interest there tocontinue the project and then
they all thanked us as they wentback inside and, um, it just
filled my heart, right up.
Juliet (20:14):
One of the things that I remember like one of my core
memories is you and I sitting inthat car and like trying to
process, like what had justhappened, because I think that
was our real like liftoff to thetrip.
I think that was our moment oflike, oh my gosh, that's why
we're here, that's why, you know, we're on this trip, doing what
(20:35):
we're doing, because seeing thepassion in those kids and
knowing that that's what we'regoing to take back with us, and
the experience and all of theconnections and the wonderful
feedback that we were getting ofthe impact of, you know,
educational packages.
Cassie (20:49):
Yeah, I mean, we had started our presentation by
asking the students do you allremember the mini main?
Like you know, let's startthere.
And they remembered all of it.
And for me, that was just to beable to continue this learning
that it's not just throwing miniboats out in the ocean and just
seeing where they go.
This is so much more than amini boat.
(21:11):
So, as if it couldn't get anybetter, we're sitting there in
the car trying to debrief,realize how all of these things
were finally coming together.
We're doing it for the kids.
I said that in the last one,it's for the kids, for the ocean
, so I'll continue to say that,because that's what it is for.
Yeah, but we're sitting thereand then we're like all right,
(21:33):
we got to go, we still have moreto do.
We headed down to Waterville andwe met Rosemary at the Sea
Synergy Center, and the SeaSynergy Center are the ones that
had led the project, the OceanChampions, with the students in
Artford, and there's alsoanother school, the Bally Skeggs
School.
So there's two schools that didthe Mini-Me project.
(21:54):
We were only able to visit oneof them while we were in Ireland
, but we will loop back with theothers as we continue.
So we went down and we got tomeet Rosemary and it was such a
wonderful moment for us to meether for the first time in person
.
But she said that she hadn'tseen the mini boat since 2019,
(22:15):
when she first when it firstwashed up.
So that was a neat moment.
They had the boat in storageand we took it out and took some
pictures and kind of assessedwhat the next steps will be to
upgrading it.
We also talked about the SeaSynergy Center and what they do
and they had just kind of movedfacilities.
So things were all around theplace, but they had a jar of
(22:39):
these trap tags, which issomething near and dear to my
heart In that, I think one ofthe things that gets me really
excited about mini boats is Ithink one of the things that
gets me really excited aboutmini boats is movement of ocean,
everything and being able toidentify things that come from
another place, sometimes thingsthat we don't intend to end up
(23:03):
in the ocean currents, like traptags.
So here in New England, a couplestates here require these
plastic identification tags andin Maine the tags are different
colors for different years andfor years I've been trying to
follow some beachcombing groupson the other side of the
Atlantic to help them identifywhere those things come from and
(23:24):
where they go, and Rosemary'sbeen finding them for years and
there was this jar of all ofthem at the center.
Well, I geeked out because Iwas like, oh, that's Maine,
that's DFO, that's Canada,that's you know.
And some of the orange oneshave phone numbers and names on
them and, um, I just get excitedabout that to be able to, to
(23:46):
report back to the person, tomake a connection, to learn
their story, to have aconversation.
And that's also the message ina bottle magic.
Juliet (23:54):
Yeah, I was just going to say that's pretty much all
that your program stands for isconnecting in that way and
connecting through the power ofthe ocean, and your mini boats
really facilitate that messageof we're all connected through
the ocean, message of like we'reall connected like through the
ocean.
One of my favorite aspects oflike educational passages of us
going to Ireland and not justthe mini Maine but Crimson
(24:18):
Current project that we did Ilove the fact that the people
that find these boats are sointegrated in the connections as
well.
It's not like they find theboat and then hand it off and
then that's it.
They're part of theconversations.
They're part of the connectionswith the schools.
They facilitate conversationsabout why they were there and
the things that they do.
(24:38):
And, you know, like Rosemarybeing a part of the mini main
project and being able to seethe amazing things that she
finds and knowing her story andbeing able to share that with
the kids of like you know, theseare the kinds of thing that she
loves to do and that she doesis like I just think that that
aspect is so cool and havingRosemary be a part of this was
has been like amazing.
Cassie (24:59):
I think we definitely have to make this a two part
podcast, because that's thewhole Crimson Current connection
and all the other places wevisited up in Galway as well.
So let's finish up themini-main story here and just
make a whole nother one foranother round of mini-boat
stories.
Juliet (25:15):
We ended up going to the place where the mini-main
landed, which was super coolAgain, just being able to be
there and like feel it.
Mind you, it was raining quitea lot.
Cassie (25:27):
It was raining hard, but that did not stop us.
I mean to be able to bring tolife a GPS location from a place
and see it in person andexperience the wind and touch
the water where these boats land.
Absolutely, it was gorgeous,amazing.
Juliet (25:49):
It was so, so cool, absolutely, it was gorgeous,
amazing, it was so, so cool andlike again, like we were saying
before, it's so different seeinga picture of something and, you
know, seeing the thought of it,but actually being there and
like absorbing all of thatexcitement is just like, brings
a whole new light to a project.
Cassie (26:05):
I also liked how every beach we went to was a little
bit different and kind of seeingthe stuff that washes up and um
, not just boats, yeah differentsediments, but you know
different.
Some other marine debris piecesand some seaweeds and all these
things and everything has astory to tell yeah, oh, so
scenery was just like right itput.
it puts it all in perspective.
(26:26):
Um, and so this boat had washedup after seven years that's
crazy, seven years in theAtlantic Ocean.
It had reported its GPS forlike three or four years and
then the rest was silence.
Rosemary finding it in 2019 isthe reason we know what happened
(26:47):
to the boat.
Had she not been there or hadsomeone not seen it, you know it
could have been broken up orsunk or what have you, but she
brought it to the science centerand now we get to continue its
story.
I mean, how amazing is that?
Juliet (27:01):
It's so cool, it's just fate and the domino effect and
the ripple effect of thisproject is just immaculate.
Cassie (27:09):
I think I call it the mini boat magic.
So what's next for the minimain?
What's next for Juliet?
Juliet (27:17):
Since we've gotten back, I'm still in the classroom,
still in Mr Nathan's class, andwe're still doing a lot of
really fun activities.
We've been talking a lot moreabout marine debris and
connecting it a lot to thethings that we saw while we were
over in Ireland.
We're still trying tofacilitate the connection with
the Artford School as well.
Cassie (27:36):
Successfully right.
So ASTLing has been absolutelyamazing in helping to facilitate
sharings of videos.
And they've been on Easterbreak for a little bit, but
getting back into it, havingthem read the Meet the Fleet
worksheets and having them writetheir own.
Getting back into it, havingthem read the Meet the Fleet
worksheets and having them writetheir own, and then hopefully
they'll send those to us beforeyou graduate and you can bring
them to the Biddeford students.
I can't wait for that.
Juliet (27:57):
Yeah, I'm so, so excited to see the look on, you know,
the Biddeford kids' faces andyou know really putting the
connection for them to light andseeing their reactions, like
the Artford students had.
But we're still doing a lot ofSTEM education, learning a lot
about the ocean.
We are going to do a communityassembly to share with the rest
of the Biddeford schools of whatMr Nason's class is doing to
(28:20):
really get the excitement intothe community and the excitement
into the kids and hopefullyfacilitate the relationship with
the Biddeford school to keepthis going.
One of my favorite parts ofworking with the Biddeford
School is that you know thesekids wouldn't have the
opportunity to learn about, youknow, this kind of science,
education, stem, whatever youwant to call it, you know,
without the help of, like oursponsors and things that we've
(28:43):
gathered throughout this project, and I think being able to
bring this to a school like thathas just been so rewarding,
because you know they don't havethe same exposure as a lot of
other kids do, and so being ableto bring this educational kind
of experience to them and havingthem really absorb it and get
(29:03):
excited about it and then alsogiving them that aspect of
global citizenship, no matterwhere they're from, and adding
whatever experiences that theyhave from wherever they're from
to what we're doing.
You know, not only the kids fromMaine but the kids that I have
from Iraq, from Ghana,philippines, stuff like that and
adding that aspect of theglobal citizenship I think has
(29:24):
been so amazing.
So, continuing that, continuingour relationship with Biddeford
, growing it, continuing ourconnections with the Artford
School, growing that as well,and trying to continue on the
relationship even when bothclasses move on, because my kids
will be in the middle schoolnext year and like trying to
integrate that into you knowwhat they're doing and
(29:45):
everything like that, and justkeeping that relationship going.
Cassie (29:47):
Yeah, that's one thing I'm interested in is that this
isn't.
We don't want them to move on,we want them to carry this
forward, and so how can we buildthat capacity in the school,
not just the one class?
So we've been talking to theprincipal there and I met some
of the high school and middleschool students.
So building that communitysupport, because we want to
relaunch the mini-bo, we want toput some sensors in it, we want
(30:09):
to do more with it, and so overthe summer, you know, turning
this into a really bigcommunity-wide initiative is
definitely our goal.
Juliet (30:20):
Because I think too, like while we were over there,
like one thing that I knowclicked with us is that what a
bigger impact these boats canreally have?
Is that what a bigger impactthese boats can really have?
And like I really want thatclick to happen with Biddeford,
because those students don'thave the same opportunities as
other students do, and I see howpassionate they are once they
(30:41):
are introduced to these thingsand I see how excited they get
and how more involved they wantto be once they get going.
You know, if I could, I wouldmake it a whole class into
itself and to just integrateeverything that we're learning
and, you know, give as muchimpact as we can.
Cassie (30:57):
But with what you're doing is you're kind of finding
ways where the math class andthe science class and everybody
can be a part of it, which Ithink is also an important way
to bring the whole communitytogether around it.
Juliet (31:09):
And just being that support for those teachers, like
we were talking about before,like giving them a little bit of
breathing room, absolutelybecause they're great teachers
and they want to do these things, but they need the resources
and the support to do it.
Cassie (31:22):
So big shout out to all of our sponsors and donors who
made this trip possible inhelping us to relaunch the mini
main, because truly without thatthat proposal would still be
sitting on the shelf, and all ofthose students in bitterford
and all of those kids in irelandnone of that would have
happened if that campaign wasn'tfilled the project is just
(31:43):
going to keep impacting more andmore students as we go along
and it's just going to grow likewe've just with this project.
Juliet (31:50):
you know we've just planted the seed for like such
opportunity that EducationalPassages has and like such you
know, prospective projects thatwe can do this with more than
just Ireland.
We can do it with all theconnections that we have around
the world, like our connectionsin France and the UK, and like
it's just there's so muchpotential and like everything
that we're doing.
Cassie (32:16):
Yeah, the Azores grouping of mini boats that have
landed there over the yearshave now gaining traction and
interest to kind of relaunchmini boats together.
And you know, each boat, eachisland might have a boat, but
let's bring all the islandstogether and make a community
out of it.
Juliet (32:28):
And that's the thing too .
Cassie (32:28):
you have what over 200 boats launched Like we need to
talk about those 200 boats thathave been launched 200 boats
that have been launched, mostwith multiple voyages, and I
don't know 25% of them stillsitting there that could be
relaunched, like the mini main,like the Black Rock, which is
sitting at the University ofLimerick, which you'll hear
(32:48):
about in the next episode of thepodcast.
So there's lots of opportunityjust sitting on the shelf and
it's only going to happen withamazing people like you, juliet,
and amazing people like ourdonors and sponsors and the
community behind EducationalPassages.
That makes it great.
So thanks for those that havebeen supporting us and keeping
us going and please stay onboard and let's make some more
(33:12):
mini boat magic.
Juliet (33:13):
Keep that mini boat magic sailing.
Cassie (33:17):
You have been listening to the Educational Passages
podcast.
Educational Passages is anonprofit organization.
Please consider making adonation to help us continue our
work bringing people togetherto learn more about the ocean.
To donate head over toeducationalpassagesorg support.
(33:38):
If you're enjoying this program, please consider subscribing to
the podcast in Apple Podcasts,spotify, google Podcasts or from
wherever you download yourpodcasts.
Thanks for listening.
Welcome to the Educational Passages podcast.
Educational Passages is anonprofit organization that
seeks to connect people aroundthe world to the ocean and each
other through unique globalexperiences.
I'm your host, Cassie Stymiest.
Today I'm sitting down withJuliet Fluty.
(00:32):
Juliet has been interning withus at Educational Passages over
the last couple of months.
She's a student at theUniversity of New England
studying educational studies andmarine biology.
She took on the task ofconnecting students from
Biddeford, Maine, to Irelandwith the Mini Maine Mini Boat.
So last episode I was chattingwith Lisa Swanson and our trip
to Ireland had been a dream atthat point.
(00:52):
Team is the dream, which wasactually the title of that
podcast episode.
How appropriate.
Fast forward a month and a halfand we went to Ireland.
Juliet (01:03):
Yeah, we did.
Cassie (01:04):
And it was absolutely epic, and it has taken us a
month to get our bearings back.
Juliet (01:10):
And it was a trip that, because we did so much in a
short period of time, it took usa while to like process the
impact that we had over there.
So to everyone who's beenwaiting, we appreciate your
patience and we are ready toabsolutely just dump out our
luggage from Ireland and talkabout everything that we did and
(01:32):
all the impact and the amazingthings that happened while we
were there.
Cassie (01:53):
you're so right, juliet, um, taking that time to really
think about what happened I mean10 days but felt like we were
tens of hundreds of kids andpeople connected, if you really
think about it yeah so let'stell some of those stories about
what we did.
We tried to put it all in aquick little video on social
media, but it does not do itjustice.
Juliet (02:10):
Like coming into it from a perspective of like how
educational passages is a newprogram for me and for me, like
you know, seeing it from anoutsider's perspective of like
realizing the impact that yourprogram has on like the whole
world Like it sounds a littlebit like dramatic, but like just
(02:32):
getting into it and seeing,like from the period of time
that you've joined till now,seeing how much of a broader
impact that this has had on notonly communities like in the US,
but communities in Ireland, andconnecting on not only
communities like in the US butcommunities in Ireland and
connecting, you know, globallybut also, you know, in Ireland.
Connecting people and havingthat kind of shared passion for,
(02:53):
like ocean conservation andeducation and giving these kids
the opportunity is just likeit's so cool.
Cassie (02:59):
It's nice to really step back and see what some of those
impacts have been and to hearfrom some of the students how
they took part in the programand how they remember it some of
them two, three years later andtheir reactions and how excited
they were about being herebecause, like that's such a
thing that I feel like as aneducator's perspective with me,
(03:20):
like substitute teaching,student teaching, whatever you
want to call it that's a hugelack right now is like the
students are.
Juliet (03:26):
Like you know, I can just Google this.
What's the point of doingsomething you know hands-on, or
like reading a book aboutsomething, if I can just look it
up and know the answer?
You know what I mean.
So, like doing a project likethis and seeing how excited
those kids were and how much itstuck and how much they
remembered and you know ustalking about the ocean currents
, like why does a boat end upsomewhere?
And having a kid genuinelyunderstand and know like at 10
(03:50):
years old, know about oceancurrents and know about those
kinds of things and bepassionate about it, was like
amazing.
Cassie (03:56):
I want to be so excited about.
You know boats that came fromAmerica or boats that came from
another place, and the faces onthose kids when you brought the
pictures of your Biddefordstudents and the pen pal letters
is a core memory.
Their reaction was justunbelievable.
And so talk about beinginvolved in a program for a long
(04:18):
time and remembering it.
Let's talk a little bit moreabout the mini main project that
brought us there, and we'll getinto some of the other bits too
.
So you are an intern atUniversity of New England, and
so that's in Maine in the US.
I'm also an alum of UNE alittle bit earlier than you, but
(04:38):
it's really nice to be able togive back and to have you join
us at Educational Passages.
Tell us a little bit more aboutwhat this internship is and why
you're doing it.
Juliet (04:47):
I'm a education and marine science major at uni, so
in order for me to walk acrossthe stage with a cap and gown, I
have to do a internship andit's kind of like student
teaching, but it was more alongthe lines of like I don't
necessarily want to workdirectly into a classroom.
I was more passionate aboutteaching marine science.
(05:08):
That's where my expertise is istalking about the ocean and
getting kids excited about it,and I feel like we should share
the story anyway because I thinkit's hilarious.
So originally, when I wrote upand proposed to my professors
what I want to do, I called itthe Blue Horizons Global
Initiative and it was this likeeight page document of how much
(05:32):
I really wanted to travel andteach and talk about the ocean
and somehow integrate.
You know STEM education and youknow connect classrooms and
everything else.
So we were connected throughour dear lovely friend Carol and
Carol Steinhardt and she.
I went and had lunch withCassie and I had originally
(05:54):
emailed her that long,ridiculous proposal of what I
wanted to do, and me and Cassiewent out to lunch together and
she let me ramble about it whileshe was sitting there just her
jaw on the floor the wholeentire time.
Cassie (06:06):
Well, meanwhile, you didn't know what Educational
Passages was or that we existedin any way.
Yeah Right, I think it'simportant for the audience to
know that.
Juliet (06:15):
I had absolutely no idea what her program was.
I just knew that this was, youknow, a plug for me to possibly
do something I actually wantedto do.
So we sit down and have lunchand she let me ramble about what
I want to do and all of mydreams and hopes and wonders.
The little wide-eyed collegestudent I am and Cassie had
(06:38):
literally just put the miniMaine project on the shelf.
It was a boat that was built byfive Southern Maine students in
20.
It was a boat that was built byfive Southern Maine students in
20.
Cassie (06:46):
Yeah, and in 2012.
And you know that was waybefore I came on to EP, so we
didn't really have theconnections like we do now,
where the kids are building theboat, they're naming it, they're
doing all of the work,decorating the sail, all of the
hands on components.
So in 2012, the program was alittle different.
I mean, we weren't even anonprofit until 2013.
But it was really cool.
(07:14):
You know that it was a verylocalized project.
They brought the boat to acouple different schools,
including these five SouthernMaine schools.
Board members launched theMiniMaine coincidentally,
launched it the same day asCrimson Tide, which is the boat
we talked about in the lastepisode from Morristown Baird,
their very first one that wasjust recently relaunched.
(07:34):
So that's a whole nother deepdive in itself, but these boats
were launched December 1st 2012.
And I'll just spill the beansnow.
It took seven years andMiniMaine ended up in Waterville
in County Kerry, ireland, andit was recovered by a wonderful
person named Rosemary Hill.
It was brought to the nearbyscience center there and they
(07:55):
did a project with it all schoolyear the Ocean Champions
Project from the MarineExplorers Education Program, and
they got some judges specialaward.
They had really learned aboutthe voyage of the Mini Maine,
about boat building, about themarine animals in the ocean
under the places where the miniMaine sailed.
They shared about St Brendan'svoyage all of these really
awesome components.
(08:15):
But they didn't have the USMaine school pen pals part, as
we try to encourage withprojects now, and so we were
kind of missing that.
They did a great job over inIreland but we were really
missing this US connection andwe weren't able to fundraise to
get the sensors added as thesecond part of this relaunch in
Ireland and so we had to put iton the shelf.
(08:37):
And we put it on the shelf inNovember.
The Ireland students reallywanted to move forward with it,
but we just didn't have theresources to do it.
So that's the background ofbefore.
I met you a month later and sowe're sitting at the diner.
You told me your initiative, Isaid how I read it and said I
have a proposal or project thatparallels this in every single
(08:57):
way, and we unearthed the minimain relaunch project.
Juliet (09:02):
You and I just like clicked right away.
It was one of those things thatwas just like almost freaky.
Cassie (09:08):
How we had taken the same core reef class at UNE with
Jerry Fox and we both recognizethat those kinds of experiences
and being out in the world andmeeting people in different
places really can set you on adifferent path.
So we're both inspired by thatand you really took this and ran
with it.
You had already been connectedwith the classroom in Maine, so
(09:30):
tell us about your Biddefordstudents.
Juliet (09:32):
Yeah, so I've been substitute teaching at Biddeford
since probably freshman orsophomore year of UNE.
The community at Biddeford isjust absolutely amazing.
I've been involved in, liketheir theater program and, you
know, helping with their readingand writing support and I've
just like grown thatrelationship with the school.
So one of my really goodfriends, jerry Nason, who was a
(09:54):
student teacher last year Iconnected with him because he
just became a fourth gradeteacher this year and he had
expressed to me like when wewere hanging out over lunch or
whatever, he was like man, likethe only thing I'm really not
excited for is like teachingscience and stuff like that.
Um, he's like I'm just not ascience guy and I was like, well
, I gotta, I got a proposal foryou, um, so I kind of roped him
(10:15):
into the project and you know,honestly, like it just
emphasizes everything that ep Ithink is about is just like
supporting those teachers whofeel like they are so like
drowned in like all of thestandards that they have to meet
, while also, you know, meetingall of the needs for the
students that they have, all ofthe neurological differences,
all of the you know differentbackgrounds economically that
(10:38):
all the students come from.
So being able to like help afriend out while also, you know,
getting giving these kids likethe experience was amazing.
So in my Biddeford class wehave around 15 students from all
over the globe.
Biddeford is actually a verydiverse place.
Really great group of kids.
(10:58):
None of them really knew muchgoing into it about the ocean or
just you know science stuff ingeneral.
You know science stuff ingeneral.
They've been super engaged andthey've loved it and they are
like super, super excited tokeep the connection going with
our Ireland kids.
Cassie (11:18):
Right, and so coincidentally you know the
Ireland group were fourthgraders, fourth class, so same
age as the classroom you hadkind of picked for this project.
Juliet (11:28):
Double the size too.
Cassie (11:29):
Yeah, so we took the learnings and the projects that
they had done with the classesin Ireland for that Ocean
Champions project and you kindof put your spin on it and a
main spin and a sharing with themain students.
Some of the similar components,right?
So things like marine debris,boat building.
What were some of the otherlessons that you did?
Juliet (11:51):
um, we did geography of ireland as well.
Um, talking about differentanimals in ireland, um, one of
my favorites was our oceancurrents duck project, learning
about like a cargo ship that haddropped like tens of thousands
of like bath toys and then thebath toys ended up all over the
world.
And that's how we know aboutocean currents and things like
that.
Cassie (12:11):
So you got the kids in Bedford really, really excited
and you kind of slowlyintroduced that you had this
group of students in Irelandthat really wanted to connect.
What were their reactions tothat part of it?
Juliet (12:23):
Some of them like didn't think it was real.
Like some of them thought I wasgenuinely pranking them, Like
no, you're not actually going to.
Cassie (12:28):
Ireland.
Juliet (12:29):
Well, I thought it wasn't real for a while too, I
don't think I did either, but alot of them were like super
excited and it really sparked aconversation that is still
continuing like to this day withour kids.
They sparked a lot of questionsof like what kind of stuff do
they do?
Like it was obviously stuffthat was related to the project,
(12:50):
but also like socially theywere like what kind of stuff do
they do Like?
What do they do for fun, likethings like that, and it was
that was kind of cool to seelike their, their global
citizenship, kind of like sparkin that.
Cassie (12:58):
Yeah, so what were some of the preparations and things
that you did, um with bothplaces, um in getting ready to
go to Ireland, and why did we goto Ireland?
Juliet (13:11):
In preparation.
Um well, we got a new sail forthe mini-main relaunch that is
hopefully happening in the fall.
Cassie (13:15):
Yeah, because the mini-main showed up without a
sail, without much of anythingat all other than the word
mini-main and, I think,educational Passage's name on it
.
So yeah, the mast had come off,the sail had come off, it was
damaged during a storm.
But, it had also been out therefor seven years.
So I mean lots of stories totell We'll give it the benefit
of the doubt.
(13:38):
Yeah, and, as we know, with theprogram now, with the kids
having the ability to decoratethe sail and to name it, and all
of these things that give themthe interest to pay attention,
you know how do you do that?
With a boat that they'd neverseen or that they had never
known about until now, and sowe're like, oh well, why don't
we?
It needs a new sale anyway.
So let's have the studentsdecorate some of it over here.
We'll bring it over there andthat will be our connection is
that the physical sale, physicalsale.
Juliet (13:59):
And we had like a little sale design competition.
Shout out Wes, he's the onethat won, and the kids decorated
.
The top half was the main stateflag and then the bottom half
was the US flag.
And then when we went over tothe Artford School in Ireland,
we brought the sail with us,along with some letters that my
kids wrote for their studentsand our meet the fleet
(14:21):
worksheets is pretty much justlike an all about me thing, and
that did get them like really,really excited.
It's just like having thatphysical aspect of the project,
I think.
Cassie (14:31):
Yeah, and then we ended up going around the room in
Ireland asking more questions ofeach other and it turns out
they had already had a list oflike 10 questions each in their
journals too.
So it really helped spark someconversations and we've recorded
those reactions and broughtthem back and then you showed
the video to your students inBedford.
So you're really helping tofacilitate these global
(14:52):
citizenship questions andconversations and I mean I love
this in this day and age whereyou know it's not emails like no
, we're actually bringing thelegit paper and picture and the
drawings and helping studentsconnect in that way.
Although I do remember onequestion at the Artford School
and you're like all right, whoplays video games?
(15:14):
Hands just shot up, every singlehand went up and I don't know
how to think about that, but itis something that ended up
across the board some sharedinterest, right.
So all of a sudden it's like,oh, we play the same video games
, we do the same things, we playsports.
They're different sports.
You know, we eat food, it'sdifferent food.
(15:36):
And so to be able to kind ofsee, that I think is the mini
boat magic of educationalpassages in one way.
So the other thing, when we werethere the day before we went to
Ireland and I got to come withyou and see you in your element
and you had shared the work thatthey did with the Ocean
Champions Project, we reallymade that connection and they
(15:58):
signed their names on the sailand then we gave them mini boat
crew pins and they all put ontheir pins and then we took a
picture and we've got thispicture of your students with
the sail, and then the same sailwith the students in Ireland
and we asked them at the end youknow, will you guys help us out
(16:20):
?
We've got, you know, a littlebit more work to do.
Not just the sail, but here'sthe cargo box.
We want to put sensors in it,right, we want to collect some
information about the ocean andreally continue this project in
the fall and we asked them allif they would want to continue
and that was another hands upacross the board.
So I'm really excited this isall going to continue.
Juliet (16:41):
Yeah, me too.
I think just seeing the passionin those kids, like when we
were over there, and seeing howexcited they were and how they
want to learn more and see whereit goes, I think really just
sums up why you do what you do,why I want to do what I want to
do, it's just, it's really coolso you brought those videos back
(17:02):
to bitterford.
Cassie (17:03):
What?
Were those reactions inaddition to the, the lollipops
from from ireland yeah, thoselollipops were actually really
good.
Juliet (17:10):
They were like like taffy and the kids were trying
to suck on them like regularlollipops and they're like I can
chew it.
Anyway, overall, I lovedputting the video together.
I think one of the things I'velearned in this internship, too,
is I love sharing our messagelike that artistically.
I think it's one thing to likesend pictures and everything
(17:31):
like that, but for us to havelike the live footage of their
reactions, the live footage oftheir questions and the
communications like is a wholedifferent world and artistically
like I love you know it helpsme process all of our trip as
well of like the reallyimportant bits and pieces of the
communication between the kids.
Cassie (17:51):
We ended up capturing so much amazing things for the
trip and it would be great tokeep sharing those stories in
those ways.
Juliet (18:00):
Yeah, and I think too, it helps the kids as well,
because you have to think I willanswer your question, I promise
.
But you have to think likethey're growing up in an age
where, visually, they have to bestimulated Like for me
personally, like I, it's hardfor me to like sit and listen in
a lecture and just look atslides, like even in college,
(18:21):
and I feel like you're so muchmore engaged and you're so much
more interested in somethingwhen you're able to visually see
it and like the same aspects ofus when we teach, of, like all
of our hands-on work that we doyeah, not just visually.
Cassie (18:33):
It's the multiple learner thing is you have to,
and this is why I do the podcastright.
Here's one thing for anauditory way to listen to the
story, but you know, making it avideo version, so there's
something visual to see and andmaking sure everyone has access
to that information and to seethose stories is important too.
Yeah, yeah so anyway.
Juliet (18:49):
So anyway, back to our original point.
But the reactions of mystudents were, I think, really
interesting.
It was cool to see them connect, like we said, like the visual
of like oh, that's what, youknow, they look like us.
It sounds really weird, butlike they, you know, they are
our age and they are actually,you know, like in a classroom
(19:10):
like we have, and all thesimilarities and things like it
sparked more questions.
For sure.
I think it sparked theconversation and they were like
well, they're wearing schooluniforms and there's double the
kids in that classroom and likeall of these other things and
even some of my kids were askingabout, like the decorations on
their walls and things like that.
So having that connection thatway definitely is keeping the
(19:33):
conversation very lively andgoing and it's also like keeping
their engagement and theirexcitement for the project and
talking to kids from a differentcountry very much alive.
So like we sat and talked tothe Ardford kids for quite a
while, I think Like we extendedinto their recess a bit as well,
but you know they didn't mind.
Cassie (19:54):
I loved the recess bit after the formal presentation.
You know we were lucky to justhang out for a little bit and
the kids all flocked to you.
They were like they had so manymore questions and, you know,
so much interest there tocontinue the project and then
they all thanked us as they wentback inside and, um, it just
filled my heart, right up.
Juliet (20:14):
One of the things that I remember like one of my core
memories is you and I sitting inthat car and like trying to
process, like what had justhappened, because I think that
was our real like liftoff to thetrip.
I think that was our moment oflike, oh my gosh, that's why
we're here, that's why, you know, we're on this trip, doing what
(20:35):
we're doing, because seeing thepassion in those kids and
knowing that that's what we'regoing to take back with us, and
the experience and all of theconnections and the wonderful
feedback that we were getting ofthe impact of, you know,
educational packages.
Cassie (20:49):
Yeah, I mean, we had started our presentation by
asking the students do you allremember the mini main?
Like you know, let's startthere.
And they remembered all of it.
And for me, that was just to beable to continue this learning
that it's not just throwing miniboats out in the ocean and just
seeing where they go.
This is so much more than amini boat.
(21:11):
So, as if it couldn't get anybetter, we're sitting there in
the car trying to debrief,realize how all of these things
were finally coming together.
We're doing it for the kids.
I said that in the last one,it's for the kids, for the ocean
, so I'll continue to say that,because that's what it is for.
Yeah, but we're sitting thereand then we're like all right,
(21:33):
we got to go, we still have moreto do.
We headed down to Waterville andwe met Rosemary at the Sea
Synergy Center, and the SeaSynergy Center are the ones that
had led the project, the OceanChampions, with the students in
Artford, and there's alsoanother school, the Bally Skeggs
School.
So there's two schools that didthe Mini-Me project.
(21:54):
We were only able to visit oneof them while we were in Ireland
, but we will loop back with theothers as we continue.
So we went down and we got tomeet Rosemary and it was such a
wonderful moment for us to meether for the first time in person
.
But she said that she hadn'tseen the mini boat since 2019,
(22:15):
when she first when it firstwashed up.
So that was a neat moment.
They had the boat in storageand we took it out and took some
pictures and kind of assessedwhat the next steps will be to
upgrading it.
We also talked about the SeaSynergy Center and what they do
and they had just kind of movedfacilities.
So things were all around theplace, but they had a jar of
(22:39):
these trap tags, which issomething near and dear to my
heart In that, I think one ofthe things that gets me really
excited about mini boats is Ithink one of the things that
gets me really excited aboutmini boats is movement of ocean,
everything and being able toidentify things that come from
another place, sometimes thingsthat we don't intend to end up
(23:03):
in the ocean currents, like traptags.
So here in New England, a couplestates here require these
plastic identification tags andin Maine the tags are different
colors for different years andfor years I've been trying to
follow some beachcombing groupson the other side of the
Atlantic to help them identifywhere those things come from and
(23:24):
where they go, and Rosemary'sbeen finding them for years and
there was this jar of all ofthem at the center.
Well, I geeked out because Iwas like, oh, that's Maine,
that's DFO, that's Canada,that's you know.
And some of the orange oneshave phone numbers and names on
them and, um, I just get excitedabout that to be able to, to
(23:46):
report back to the person, tomake a connection, to learn
their story, to have aconversation.
And that's also the message ina bottle magic.
Juliet (23:54):
Yeah, I was just going to say that's pretty much all
that your program stands for isconnecting in that way and
connecting through the power ofthe ocean, and your mini boats
really facilitate that messageof we're all connected through
the ocean, message of like we'reall connected like through the
ocean.
One of my favorite aspects oflike educational passages of us
going to Ireland and not justthe mini Maine but Crimson
(24:18):
Current project that we did Ilove the fact that the people
that find these boats are sointegrated in the connections as
well.
It's not like they find theboat and then hand it off and
then that's it.
They're part of theconversations.
They're part of the connectionswith the schools.
They facilitate conversationsabout why they were there and
the things that they do.
(24:38):
And, you know, like Rosemarybeing a part of the mini main
project and being able to seethe amazing things that she
finds and knowing her story andbeing able to share that with
the kids of like you know, theseare the kinds of thing that she
loves to do and that she doesis like I just think that that
aspect is so cool and havingRosemary be a part of this was
has been like amazing.
Cassie (24:59):
I think we definitely have to make this a two part
podcast, because that's thewhole Crimson Current connection
and all the other places wevisited up in Galway as well.
So let's finish up themini-main story here and just
make a whole nother one foranother round of mini-boat
stories.
Juliet (25:15):
We ended up going to the place where the mini-main
landed, which was super coolAgain, just being able to be
there and like feel it.
Mind you, it was raining quitea lot.
Cassie (25:27):
It was raining hard, but that did not stop us.
I mean to be able to bring tolife a GPS location from a place
and see it in person andexperience the wind and touch
the water where these boats land.
Absolutely, it was gorgeous,amazing.
Juliet (25:49):
It was so, so cool, absolutely, it was gorgeous,
amazing, it was so, so cool andlike again, like we were saying
before, it's so different seeinga picture of something and, you
know, seeing the thought of it,but actually being there and
like absorbing all of thatexcitement is just like, brings
a whole new light to a project.
Cassie (26:05):
I also liked how every beach we went to was a little
bit different and kind of seeingthe stuff that washes up and um
, not just boats, yeah differentsediments, but you know
different.
Some other marine debris piecesand some seaweeds and all these
things and everything has astory to tell yeah, oh, so
scenery was just like right itput.
it puts it all in perspective.
(26:26):
Um, and so this boat had washedup after seven years that's
crazy, seven years in theAtlantic Ocean.
It had reported its GPS forlike three or four years and
then the rest was silence.
Rosemary finding it in 2019 isthe reason we know what happened
(26:47):
to the boat.
Had she not been there or hadsomeone not seen it, you know it
could have been broken up orsunk or what have you, but she
brought it to the science centerand now we get to continue its
story.
I mean, how amazing is that?
Juliet (27:01):
It's so cool, it's just fate and the domino effect and
the ripple effect of thisproject is just immaculate.
Cassie (27:09):
I think I call it the mini boat magic.
So what's next for the minimain?
What's next for Juliet?
Juliet (27:17):
Since we've gotten back, I'm still in the classroom,
still in Mr Nathan's class, andwe're still doing a lot of
really fun activities.
We've been talking a lot moreabout marine debris and
connecting it a lot to thethings that we saw while we were
over in Ireland.
We're still trying tofacilitate the connection with
the Artford School as well.
Cassie (27:36):
Successfully right.
So ASTLing has been absolutelyamazing in helping to facilitate
sharings of videos.
And they've been on Easterbreak for a little bit, but
getting back into it, havingthem read the Meet the Fleet
worksheets and having them writetheir own.
Getting back into it, havingthem read the Meet the Fleet
worksheets and having them writetheir own, and then hopefully
they'll send those to us beforeyou graduate and you can bring
them to the Biddeford students.
I can't wait for that.
Juliet (27:57):
Yeah, I'm so, so excited to see the look on, you know,
the Biddeford kids' faces andyou know really putting the
connection for them to light andseeing their reactions, like
the Artford students had.
But we're still doing a lot ofSTEM education, learning a lot
about the ocean.
We are going to do a communityassembly to share with the rest
of the Biddeford schools of whatMr Nason's class is doing to
(28:20):
really get the excitement intothe community and the excitement
into the kids and hopefullyfacilitate the relationship with
the Biddeford school to keepthis going.
One of my favorite parts ofworking with the Biddeford
School is that you know thesekids wouldn't have the
opportunity to learn about, youknow, this kind of science,
education, stem, whatever youwant to call it, you know,
without the help of, like oursponsors and things that we've
(28:43):
gathered throughout this project, and I think being able to
bring this to a school like thathas just been so rewarding,
because you know they don't havethe same exposure as a lot of
other kids do, and so being ableto bring this educational kind
of experience to them and havingthem really absorb it and get
(29:03):
excited about it and then alsogiving them that aspect of
global citizenship, no matterwhere they're from, and adding
whatever experiences that theyhave from wherever they're from
to what we're doing.
You know, not only the kids fromMaine but the kids that I have
from Iraq, from Ghana,philippines, stuff like that and
adding that aspect of theglobal citizenship I think has
(29:24):
been so amazing.
So, continuing that, continuingour relationship with Biddeford
, growing it, continuing ourconnections with the Artford
School, growing that as well,and trying to continue on the
relationship even when bothclasses move on, because my kids
will be in the middle schoolnext year and like trying to
integrate that into you knowwhat they're doing and
(29:45):
everything like that, and justkeeping that relationship going.
Cassie (29:47):
Yeah, that's one thing I'm interested in is that this
isn't.
We don't want them to move on,we want them to carry this
forward, and so how can we buildthat capacity in the school,
not just the one class?
So we've been talking to theprincipal there and I met some
of the high school and middleschool students.
So building that communitysupport, because we want to
relaunch the mini-bo, we want toput some sensors in it, we want
(30:09):
to do more with it, and so overthe summer, you know, turning
this into a really bigcommunity-wide initiative is
definitely our goal.
Juliet (30:20):
Because I think too, like while we were over there,
like one thing that I knowclicked with us is that what a
bigger impact these boats canreally have?
Is that what a bigger impactthese boats can really have?
And like I really want thatclick to happen with Biddeford,
because those students don'thave the same opportunities as
other students do, and I see howpassionate they are once they
(30:41):
are introduced to these thingsand I see how excited they get
and how more involved they wantto be once they get going.
You know, if I could, I wouldmake it a whole class into
itself and to just integrateeverything that we're learning
and, you know, give as muchimpact as we can.
Cassie (30:57):
But with what you're doing is you're kind of finding
ways where the math class andthe science class and everybody
can be a part of it, which Ithink is also an important way
to bring the whole communitytogether around it.
Juliet (31:09):
And just being that support for those teachers, like
we were talking about before,like giving them a little bit of
breathing room, absolutelybecause they're great teachers
and they want to do these things, but they need the resources
and the support to do it.
Cassie (31:22):
So big shout out to all of our sponsors and donors who
made this trip possible inhelping us to relaunch the mini
main, because truly without thatthat proposal would still be
sitting on the shelf, and all ofthose students in bitterford
and all of those kids in irelandnone of that would have
happened if that campaign wasn'tfilled the project is just
(31:43):
going to keep impacting more andmore students as we go along
and it's just going to grow likewe've just with this project.
Juliet (31:50):
you know we've just planted the seed for like such
opportunity that EducationalPassages has and like such you
know, prospective projects thatwe can do this with more than
just Ireland.
We can do it with all theconnections that we have around
the world, like our connectionsin France and the UK, and like
it's just there's so muchpotential and like everything
that we're doing.
Cassie (32:16):
Yeah, the Azores grouping of mini boats that have
landed there over the yearshave now gaining traction and
interest to kind of relaunchmini boats together.
And you know, each boat, eachisland might have a boat, but
let's bring all the islandstogether and make a community
out of it.
Juliet (32:28):
And that's the thing too .
Cassie (32:28):
you have what over 200 boats launched Like we need to
talk about those 200 boats thathave been launched 200 boats
that have been launched, mostwith multiple voyages, and I
don't know 25% of them stillsitting there that could be
relaunched, like the mini main,like the Black Rock, which is
sitting at the University ofLimerick, which you'll hear
(32:48):
about in the next episode of thepodcast.
So there's lots of opportunityjust sitting on the shelf and
it's only going to happen withamazing people like you, juliet,
and amazing people like ourdonors and sponsors and the
community behind EducationalPassages.
That makes it great.
So thanks for those that havebeen supporting us and keeping
us going and please stay onboard and let's make some more
(33:12):
mini boat magic.
Juliet (33:13):
Keep that mini boat magic sailing.
Cassie (33:17):
You have been listening to the Educational Passages
podcast.
Educational Passages is anonprofit organization.
Please consider making adonation to help us continue our
work bringing people togetherto learn more about the ocean.
To donate head over toeducationalpassagesorg support.
(33:38):
If you're enjoying this program, please consider subscribing to
the podcast in Apple Podcasts,spotify, google Podcasts or from
wherever you download yourpodcasts.
Thanks for listening.
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