Teachers and students recently came together in a culminating activity that really connected them to other countries and peoples, clearly demonstrating the success of Heather Halstead’s program Reach the World. Founded just a few years ago when Halstead graduated from Princeton University with a passion for teaching and for sailing the seven seas, her not-for-profit endeavor was the perfect union of her interests. With the purchase of a large sailboat, the Makulu II (“big momma”), Halstead as skipper and classmates and friends as crew, plotted a course around the world. As they circumnavigated the globe, beset at times by rough seas and engine trouble, they continued to make contact with classrooms in New York City via satellite. Students could “sail” as armchair travelers while learning about the countries, customs and peoples that the Makulu visited. Not only could students track the voyage and ports of call on a map, they were also able to email crew members with any questions they had. Teachers could design curricula around any facet of the Makulu’s voyage and the crew could provide the “hands-on, reality base” for the lessons.

At the final activities and festivities recently, students from Mrs. Moon’s fourth grade class in PS 163 Manhattan discussed the animals that Makulu II had seen on its voyages. Among them were sharks and snakes, which the children described with interesting facts.

The 6th graders at IS 145 in the Bronx presented a project on the Galapagos Islands. Eight groups of four gave written reports about various topics. Students continuously tracked the ship through www.reachtheworld.org. Collaborating teachers included Kelly Kaughan and Leila Morsy. According to Kaughan, the “greatest significance of the project was that each child was connected to part of it and then deeply researched that topic. Integrating the curriculum was a challenge that took longer than expected partly because we only had four computers.”

Students from class 704 in IS 390 made these comments: “Because of Reach the World, we can communicate with kids around the world; you’re just one click away.”

When the ship finally arrived in New York City, students were eager to go on board, meet the crew in person and see the physical Makulu II which they had tracked so assiduously and which had widened their horizons so dramatically.#