Rocking the Boat
Mission:
Rocking the Boat is a boatbuilding and on-water education program based out of the southwest Bronx, New York City. Through a hands-on alternative approach to education and youth development, Rocking the Boat addresses the need for inner city youth to achieve practical and tangible goals, relevant to both everyday life and future aspirations. This process allows high school students to acquire practical, academic, and social skills. Rocking the Boat runs programming in both boatbuilding and environmental science, coordinating three after school and summer programs in each discipline annually, working directly with over 150 students, all of whom receive high school credit. During the process of building a traditional wooden boat, Rocking the Boat students create something not only beautiful, but practical in their own lives, bridging urban and natural life within their neighborhoods. This approach is mirrored in the on-water education program through direct focus on Bronx River habitat monitoring and restoration and through maritime life skills programming. Both programs allow students opportunities to gain a deeper awareness of their own abilities and possibilities in the natural and urban world.
Contact Information
Address: 60 E. 174th St Bronx, NY 10452
Telephone: (718) 466-5799
Website: http://www.rockingtheboat.org
General Email: shop@rockingtheboat.org
Location
General Information
Type: After School, Math/Science, Sports, Summer Program
Target audience: Students
Nonprofit: Nonprofit
Tag words: rowing, constructing, boating, building, environmental science
Programs/Services
Boatbuilding Program
Description: At Rocking the Boat’s core is the after-school Boatbuilding Program. Over the course of a semester, 16 students construct a full-size traditional wooden boat from scratch.
Fees for services: Bronx, NY
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On-Water Education Program
Description: The On-Water Program is the natural outgrowth of Boatbuilding. 20 students use the handmade boats to practice a range of maritime skills and accomplish real habitat monitoring and restoration work on the Bronx River.
Fees for services: Bronx, NY
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On-Water Classroom Program
Description: In this variation of the after-school On-Water Program, groups of up to 20 students use the Bronx River as their classroom during the school day. Rocking the Boat staff collaborate with teachers to design custom program content and influence curriculum.
Fees for services: Bronx, NY
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Job Skills Program
Description: 16 former Rocking the Boat students are hired as Job Skills Apprentices, allowing them to use the mediums of wooden boatbuilding and environmental restoration to develop practical skills and prepare themselves to enter college, a trade school, or the workforce.
Fees for services: Bronx, NY
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Advocacy Program
Description: The Student and Job Skills Advocates coordinate a comprehensive web of social services. Along with leading group Life Skills and Job Skills workshops, they meet regularly with each student and Apprentice throughout the semester, advising them on their academic, personal, and future challenges and helping them to maximize Rocking the Boat’s impact on their lives.
Fees for services: Bronx, NY
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Program Assistants
Description: Rocking the Boat hires up to 10 former students each semester as Program Assistants. They help to lead each after-school class, organize and facilitate trips, help to recruit students for new classes, and most importantly, act as role models and representatives of reachable goals within the organization.
Fees for services: Bronx, NY
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Community Rowing Program
Description: Rocking the Boat’s Community Rowing Program allows hundreds of community residents free, weekly opportunities to get out in a wooden boat to row, fish, and learn about the Bronx River.
Fees for services: Bronx, NY
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