By Abby Kidder

It's year four for the World Ocean School's historic ship Roseway to be back in St. Croix providing education programs at sea for the island's three public junior high schools. Over 2000 students have studied aboard Roseway in the last four years and 2010 will add another 700. This year the focus is on developing a tighter connection to what these kids are already studying in math, science, history, and language arts. This translates into activities on board such as navigation, theory of sail, oceanography, team building, poetry of the sea, speed/distance tests, reef ecology, nautical terminology, and maritime careers. After a week on board, the students really feel they're part of the crew. And this year, Stevenson Formel Freight Services, operators of the M/V Norma H II, sponsored Roseway crew shirts for each and every student so they could look like crew too.

The World Ocean School is a non profit organization that creates and provides a method of experiential education at sea that affords teenage students a practical application for their studies as well as cultivating teamwork, community service, environmental responsibility, and cross-cultural friendships so that they gain insight into becoming empowered, motivated, and engaged citizens. To learn more or sail with them visit www.worldoceanschool.org or call 340-626-7877.