Education Partners Plan Fun
& Exciting Activities for Youth
OpSail
Baltimore 2000 will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for thousands
of citizens from the region and afar to step back into the era of
Tall Ships. A group of education partners from the Baltimore
waterfront are planning cooperatively to ensure that participating
youth learn lots of neat things during their visit - along
with having fun!
Although geared to upper
elementary and middle school youth, the educational component of
Op Sail Baltimore 2000 will appeal to students of all ages - and
their families. The educational component is being planned
and implemented by the major museums and institutions around the
harbor.
The education partners
include:
* Pride of Baltimore Inc.
* The Maryland Science Center
* The National Aquarium in Baltimore
* Port
Discovery Children's Museum
* Baltimore Museum of Industry
* National Historic Seaport
* Baltimore Maritime Museum
* The Living Classroom
Foundation
* Maryland Historical Society
* The B&O Railroad Museum
* Fort McHenry National Monument
Institution-Based Programming.
Each of the participating institutions will have special programming
for students at their facilities during the OpSail Baltimore 2000
week - June 23-29, 2000. These institution-based activities
will tie in to the themes suggested by the millennial assemblage
of tall ships -- international understanding, maritime history,
and the romance of sail. Participating institutions will
offer discount pricing for students and their families as an incentive
to visit their special exhibits.
In addition to the institution-based
activities, the OpSail education partners are working cooperatively
on several outreach projects:
Baltimore Sun Education
Supplement. The education partners will publish a 12-page
educational newspaper supplement in cooperation with the Baltimore
Sun. Approximately thirty-five thousand (35,000) copies
of the supplement will be distributed to schools in the metropolitan
region in mid-May 2000. The supplement will serve as an invitation
to participate in OpSail with dates, times, and locations of major
event. It will also contain fun educational activities based
on the event themes.
Education Tent.
During the OpSail week, the education partners will sponsor
and play host in an Education Tent on the Inner Harbor Promenade
where students and their families can begin their visit to the tall
ship event. The Education Tent will have displays about all
the visiting vessels. There will also be hands-on activities,
opportunities to "Meet the Cadets," and a central distribution
point of information about ship Open Houses and other events. The
Education Tent will be open to the public between 10 AM and 6 PM,
Saturday, June 24 through Wednesday, June 28.
The hands-on activities
in the Education Tent will be supervised by students from area high
school earning service learning credit. They will work with
younger students at several stations, including a "Make it
Float" buoyancy game and a "Raisin' Sail" challenge
where students discover the power of mechanical advantage.
Passport. A
major contribution of the education partners will be the publication
of a special OpSail Baltimore 2000 Passport. The Passport
will be distributed at the Education Tent as well as participating
institutions prior to the event. The Passport will have separate
pages for each of the participating institutions and each of the
visiting tall ships. The institution pages will describe the
special programs offered by the institutions as well as dates and
times of operation. The Passport will serve as the bearer's
authorization to take advantage of the entry discount. The
tall ship pages will list dates and hours of Open Houses and other
shipboard events. Passports will be stamped by participating
intuitions and ships. Students gathering stamps for all the
institutions and/or all the visiting ships will be eligible for
prizes.
OpSail Baltimore 2000
will be a once-in-a-life opportunity. Activities planned
by the education partners will insure students will learn from,
as well as enjoy, their visit .
