YouthBoat is designed to empower youth, build character and foster teamwork through the traditional craft of wooden boat building and on-the-water activities. In our woodworking shop, students from diverse backgrounds work alongside skilled shipwrights and craftspeople. Through the boat building process, students put STEAM skills to work as they follow building plans, use specialized tools and materials, and solve problems.
YouthBoat is the umbrella name for a number of HRMM programs, some where a boat is the project, and others with general woodworking projects: a daytime program with Ulster BOCES students, an after-school woodworking class open to area high school students, and as one component of a gap year program for young adults offered in partnership with Place Corps.
YouthBoat is the umbrella name for a number of HRMM programs, some where a boat is the project, and others with general woodworking projects: a daytime program with Ulster BOCES students, an after-school woodworking class open to area high school students, and as one component of a gap year program for young adults offered in partnership with Place Corps.
Youth After-School Intro to Woodworking
Two days per week for six weeks | Fall and Spring | Ages 13-18
Running once every semester, this hands-on after-school class teaches youth the fundamentals of building with wood, First we cover safety, power tool and hand tool use, and students will get their hands dirty practicing with a wide variety of tools to measure, cut, and shape wood.
Then students work as a team to design and construct a project, such as little library, for a local community. This project builds skills in project planning, design, measurement, fabrication, and assembly.
Scholarships are available for 25%, 50% or 100% of tuition.
Running once every semester, this hands-on after-school class teaches youth the fundamentals of building with wood, First we cover safety, power tool and hand tool use, and students will get their hands dirty practicing with a wide variety of tools to measure, cut, and shape wood.
Then students work as a team to design and construct a project, such as little library, for a local community. This project builds skills in project planning, design, measurement, fabrication, and assembly.
Scholarships are available for 25%, 50% or 100% of tuition.
YouthBoat: BOCES
Since 2015, the Hudson River Maritime Museum has partnered with Ulster BOCES to provide daytime woodworking programs to selected students. With each group spending one semester building a boat, the program has run for fourteen semesters and counting! Through building a boat together, students learn to cooperate and collaborate, as well as develop motor skills, problem solving, and explore working with their hands as a potential future career. To learn more about the program, see the video below:
Place Corps
Since 2023, HRMM has been a partner of Place Corps, providing one component of their gap year program for young adults. Each year, a group of Place Corps "fellows" builds a boat from start to finish, completing small woodworking projects along the way, as well as learning how to row and sail small boats, and exploring the ecology and history of the Hudson River and Kingston's waterfront neighborhood, the Rondout. Though not explicitly a workforce development component, HRMM's shop is the perfect venue for the fellows to get comfortable working with their hands, using tools, and develop a sustained practice of building and creating that could lead to a career in the trades, whether on land or in a maritime environment.
