Day Programs
1–5 day programs that combine STEM learning, teamwork, and personal growth aboard our iconic tall ships.
STEM & Leadership Programs Under Sail
Quick Facts
Ages: 5th Grade - 12th Grade
Program Length: 1-5 Days, 3 Hours/Day
Locations: St Croix & Boston
Group Type: Schools & Youth Organizations
No sailing experience required
Led by professional mariners and educators
Programs adapted to different ages and learning goals
More Than a Field Trip
World Ocean School transforms our tall ships into floating classrooms where students become active crew members. Whether setting sails, navigating the ship, or participating in hands on STEM lessons, students build confidence, communication skills, and resilience through real world challenges and teamwork.
Programs are available as single day experiences or immersive multi day programs, with each experience customized to the needs and goals of participating groups.
Program Formats
Single Day
A focused introduction to life aboard a tall ship. Students participate in hands on sailing, STEM lessons, and teamwork activities while learning the basics of navigation, seamanship, and shipboard responsibility.
What Students Experience
Hands on sailing activities
Introductory STEM lessons
Team building challenges
Basic navigation & seamanship
Multi Day
A deeper educational experience that allows students to build confidence and familiarity aboard the ship over multiple visits. Through hands on lessons, sailing activities, and collaborative challenges, students strengthen communication, leadership, and problem solving skills.
What Students Experience
Expanded STEM exploration
Collaborative team challenges
Increased shipboard responsibility
Leadership & communication development
5-Day
Our most immersive day program experience. Over five days, students become active crew members aboard Denis Sullivan while participating in progressive STEM lessons, team building activities, and real shipboard tasks.
What Students Experience
Progressive multi day curriculum
Advanced teamwork & leadership
Real crew responsibilities aboard ship
Deeper personal growth & reflection
Curriculum
STEM Learning
Seamanship
Students learn maritime safety, knot tying, sail handling, and how simple machines throughout the ship’s rigging help power a tall ship.
Environmental Science
Through hands on experiments, students explore buoyancy, water density, wind direction, and the environmental systems that shape life at sea.
Water Testing
Students use scientific tools to test temperature, salinity, turbidity, and pH while discussing ocean health and marine ecosystems.
Navigation
Students learn to read nautical charts, use a compass, and practice plotting the ship’s position and course.
Physics
Using the ship’s rigging and equipment, students explore pulley systems, mechanical advantage, force, and motion through interactive challenges.
Speed & Math
Students conduct experiments to calculate the speed of the ship while applying real world math skills aboard.
Life Skills
Trust
Students build confidence while learning to trust themselves and others through new experiences and personal challenges aboard.
Communication
Students strengthen communication skills through group discussion, reflection, public speaking, poetry, and collaborative problem solving.
Teamwork
Students work together to accomplish real shipboard tasks, from setting sails to completing group challenges aboard the ship.
Resilience
Students are encouraged to view challenges as opportunities for growth while developing perseverance through hands on activities.
Self Worth
Through reflection and goal setting activities, students practice recognizing their strengths, building confidence, and developing a positive sense of self.
A Day On Board
Students step aboard Denis Sullivan and begin the day with introductions, name games, and team building activities. Together, we explore World Ocean School’s core values: communication, trust, teamwork, and self worth.
9:00-9:30 AMWelcome Aboard
Students work together to leave the dock and raise Denis Sullivan’s 10 sails. Everyone plays a role as the ship comes to life under sail.
9:30-10:00 AMSet sail
10:00-11:30 AMHands On Learning
Students step aboard Denis Sullivan and begin the day with introductions, name games, and team building activities. Together, we explore World Ocean School’s core values: communication, trust, teamwork, and self worth.
11:30-12:00 PMReturn to Port
Students work together to lower the sails before gathering for a final reflection on the day’s lessons, challenges, and accomplishments.
Bring A Day Program To Your School!
Click the button below to fill out a form on how you can bring a day program to your school.
“I've learned a lot of things on the Roseway, and I realized just yesterday that you got all the elements of school like math, ELA and science into boat related lessons. I thought that was really cool. That's how school should be.”
Michael, Revere Middle School
Program Partners
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Josiah Quincy Elementary School
Boston Public Schools, Boston, MA
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Claude O. Markoe Elementary School
Frederiksted, St Croix, USVI
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Piers Park Sailing Center
East Boston, MA
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Harvard-Kent Elementary School
Boston Public Schools, Boston, MA
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Ricardo Richards Elementary School
St. Croix, USVI
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Dennis C. Haley Pilot School
Boston Public Schools, Boston, MA
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Boston Day and Evening Academy
Boston, MA
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Good Hope Country Day School
Kingshill, USVI
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Nathan Hale Elementary School
Boston Public Schools, Boston, MA
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St. Croix Educational Complex High School
Kingshill, USVI
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. K-8 School
Boston Public Schools, Boston, MA
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Caribbean Center for Boys and Girls
St. Croix, USVI
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Gifft Hill School
St. John, USVI
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Landmark College
Putney, VT
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Save The Harbor Save The Bay
Boston, MA
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Colorado Springs School
Colorado Springs, CO
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Central High School
Kingshill, USVI
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Waypoint Adventure
Lexington, MA
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National Endowment for the Humanities
St. Thomas, USVI
