Maritime Gloucester is pleased to announce its
2022-2023 IMPACT REPORT.
We hope that you will take a moment and review it now. We are releasing this in conjunction with our
2022 Annual Appeal!
Our Impact Report is not an Annual Report. Yes, we provide some annual numbers based on groups served in our programs, but our programs have an impact that is longer and more lasting than each year. Please take a moment to read our Appeal letter from our Executive Director, Michael De Koster, below. Our programs need your support so that we can continue to make a difference in the lives of our students, our members, and our community.
From the Desk of the Executive Director - 2022 Annual Appeal Letter
December, 2022
I love my job! Admittedly, that is an odd way to start an annual appeal letter. But the truth is, I love my job because every day I have a front-row seat to the impact and inspiration of our mission. I see how our mission changes the lives of our young students, our membership, and our community. Maritime Gloucester is a special place and the experiences offered here ripple out in powerful ways.
I hope you already know our impact from your own personal experience with Maritime Gloucester. When you come to an event, walk on our pier, sail on a schooner, explore our gallery, visit our aquarium, get on the water, engage in a program, or experience Maritime Gloucester in one of our many other ways, you are seeing our mission in action. Our historic campus is the perfect platform for experiential learning options for all ages.
We create opportunities for learning through inspirational programming over multiple engagements and many years. For example, take our Ocean Explorers program. We work with every 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade student in Gloucester and their teachers over three years! It is not just a visit or two, but a continuing, progressive STEM program with hands-on marine science modules that complements and enriches their overall educational experience. We encourage them to think about STEM differently by taking these hands-on experiences and rooting them in a cultural-sense-of-place curriculum. This model is powerful because experiential education provides proven benefits to students. Benefits like coursework retention, a sense of cultural identity, life-skills development, emotional growth, problem-solving, confidence, decision-making skills, and many other good outcomes. Interesting that the kids just call it fun. Their teachers agree and list Maritime Gloucester as one of their more important teaching partners.
Our newest offering, the Maritime Apprenticeship Program, in conjunction with Maritime Heritage Charters, engages young adults at that level too. This year, thirteen young adults were given the opportunity to learn while working alongside professionals in real-world situations. They meet for a structured skills session twice a month, covering many facets of building, hauling, maintenance, design, and other traditional and modern mariner skill sets. But the real benefit is working aboard Ardelle and Isabella. And through the generosity of Maritime Heritage Charters, these young people get this opportunity as paid crew. Here they gain valuable experience in vessel management and operati
ons that readies them for a future on the water. This year we graduated our first Captain, Amanda Loebelenz. She received her USCG captain’s license and, upon success
fully passing her test, had her test fees paid for by Maritime Gloucester through the Gloucester Schooner Festival’s Russ Smith Scholarship Fund. We hope to have the opportunity to sponsor many more cadets toward their career goals in the years to come!
From the testimonials given on the side columns
and the information in our Impact Report, we hope you will agree that Maritime Gloucester provides one-of-a-kind educational experiences that Gloucester cannot be without.
While our impact is longer than one year, our financial ability to
offer these unique programs is unavoidably measured annually. Now is the time for you to make a difference and help us support these, and other, great programs for 2023. For over 18 years, Maritime Gloucester has raised all the funding needed to provide free access to our Ocean Explorers program! The Maritime Apprenticeship Program is also free, offering unique job-training and instructional experience for its young cadets without financial obligation on their part. Your donation, of any size, helps to keep these programs viable, exceptional, and free. Please consider donating today. On behalf of the Board, staff, and program participants, thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Michael De Koster
Executive Director