It was an unusual couple of school days for ninth graders at Wiscasset High School. Instead of passing bells and after-school games, it was ship’s whistles and physical training, Maine Maritime Academy Regiment style.

Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) has been offering an aspiration-building program for Maine’s ninth graders since 1995. This was a perfect fit for Wiscasset High School as we searched for a way to inspire our students to set high educational goals for themselves.

We were invited to bring our ninth graders to MMA’s campus in Castine to participate in a Discovery Voyage. We took two groups in separate trips to participate in this highly interactive two-day program that included boat trips on Penobscot Bay, lessons on shipping logistics and materials, and a full immersion into campus life including dorm rooms and the dining hall.

MMA professors helped students connect what they have learned in the classroom to the working world. Students practiced navigation by driving boats and tested the strength of materials used in the construction of Penobscot Narrows Bridge.

Some honed their climbing skills on the rock wall, others practiced open water survival in the pool, and many toned up with physical exercise drills on the football field. Students also toured labs, bridge simulators and MMA’s Training Ship State of Maine Schooner Bowdoin.

This trip was funded by primarily by MMA with the minimal remaining cost being cover by our MELMAC grant. In all it was an informative couple of days in a continuing series of tours aimed at exposing our students to post-secondary options.