YWH: July 6th, 7th, 8th
Advanced YWH: August 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th
All applications due May 21st
The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater is a historic 106-foot tall ship which offers a variety of ecology-based experiences to thousands of youth and adults each year. We also make it a priority to reach out to urban areas and minorities who are often underserved in this capacity. One of the most successful parts of Clearwater’s “Next Generation of Environmental Leaders” initiative is our three-day program called Young Women at the Helm (YWH).
The program begins with outreach visits to several community groups and schools in low-income, urban areas throughout the Hudson Valley. Annually, 20-25 young women are accepted to the three-day program and participate in various on-board and onshore activities.
Since studies show that young women’s self-esteem tends to plummet in their mid teens, we use the platform of our “floating classroom” to counteract that tendency. One of the goals of the YWH program has been to involve participants in activities that challenge them physically and mentally and introduce them to women who have succeeded in careers considered non-traditional for women. These role models include guest speakers and the Clearwater captain herself, Samantha Heyman.
Participants often form a deep bond with their local ecosystem, become aware of abilities they didn’t know they had, and make lasting connections. For Ye Liu, a participant from 2008 who will return as a paid apprentice in the 2009 season, “Captain Samantha was my favorite. She really showed me that we should never let stereotypes or conventional roles define who we are.”
Read a Times Herald article from 2008.
Participants sample different experiential activities covering ecology and pollution, sailing, and navigation and then choose one of topics for their learning focus. Each group also learn one boat-related skill (such as deploying the fishing net, climbing aloft or raising sail), that they will perform on their own on Day Three. The two nights are spent ashore camping and meeting with female guest speakers from professions such as blimp pilots, politicians, doctors and sea captains. At the end of the program, each group presents what they have learned to their peers
This experience profoundly affects the young women. Anna Meyer, a participant from 2008 recalls, “It most definitely made me grow and gain confidence…by teaching me how to be a leader and to never quit, to always keep going even when it’s tough.”
This program has served as a springboard for continuing involvement with our organization and the environmental field. One case study to note is that of Stephanie Arriola, who participated in YWH in 2004, returned to intern with us for two weeks later that summer, and was accepted to be a month-long crewmember with us in the summer of 2005. We refer to this sort of on-going involvement as Clearwater’s “Pipeline” and directly achieves our mission of creating green jobs and environmental leaders in the Hudson Valley.
Every summer since 1990, Clearwater has been providing this incredible excursion free of charge to young women who would otherwise never have the opportunity to experience the sail instruction, environmental education and rigorous leadership training we provide.
Each three-day program costs approximately $1,000 per student to provide our top-notch educational experience, under the supervision of a professional crew on our coast guard certified 70-ton wooden ship. 2008 was the first year we offered this program twice in one season and hope to continue expanding our abilities to inspire a wider pool of future environmental stewards, marine scientists and community leaders.
