Nova Scotia Sea School Makes Waves at The Deanery Project
The summer season is a busy time at the Deanery Project and one of our highlights has been hosting a group of amazing youth from Maine with the Nova Scotia Sea School. We spent eight days with eight energetic and enthusiastic girls from Alfred Lake Camp, who are completing a 6 week adventure trip with the Nova Scotia Sea School. The Deanery Project has been a part of this program for the past 3 summers. The girls embark on various outdoor learning experiences during their six weeks together including; sea kayaking, surfing, survival camping on West Ironbound Island, and a final 21 days on board a traditional wooden Sea School sail boat. The Deanery Project focuses on the community service portion of their trip.
As the girls arrived they had many questions about what the Deanery was all about. It was amazing, as the week went on, to see them make connections between place and community and how they both sustain and build one another up. They had an action packed week in Ship Harbour experiencing and exploring the area, some of their activities included; learning about and practicing natural building techniques, hiking the trails on site at the Deanery Project, a trip to Memory Lane Heritage Village on Canada Day, learning about bicycle road safety and bicycle maintenance in the Bike Hub, and experiencing how art and nature can play together with an Natural Clowning workshop.
The girls left two legacy pieces at the Deanery Project that they created together with the natural building skills they learned. The first is a new outdoor clay oven. They girls learned how to screen soil, mix clay, and build a form for the oven. We have since baked pizza in the final product and it works great! The second is piece, is an addition to our Sheiling Hut that has been a special place for the Sea School groups in the past.
The Nova Scotia Sea School has been running sailing expeditions for 21 years for teens and adults. Their trips aim to take participants on a personal journey that will inspire them to be the best person they can be and to get involved in their own communities and ultimately, make the world a better place. These are goals shared by the Deanery Project, and our efforts to involve youth and community was the main focus of their time here. The group interacted regularly with Deanery community members including members of our youth group who worked with them on the building projects. At the end of their week the girls hosted a wonderful community dinner with over 30 guests. They thanked the Deanery staff and volunteers and the Eastern Shore community members who created such a welcoming experience for them.
The Deanery Project could not be happier with our relationship with the Sea School and Alfred Lake Camp. We are very proud to have been able to offer such a unique and memorable learning experience for these amazing, adventure seeking girls.
