Detroit River: a 105-foot schooner is the classroom
DETROIT. The University of Michigan's Detroit River Story Lab is running its sixth year of the Detroit River Scholars program, putting Detroit-area teenagers aboard the Alliance, a 105-foot three-masted schooner operated by the Inland Seas Education Association. Students hoist sails, steer the ship, and pull water samples to study clarity, temperature, and plankton under a microscope.
The lessons go beyond the water itself: Anishinaabe history, the Underground Railroad, the auto industry, the Clean Water Act, and Black boating heritage in Detroit all come up on board. More than 120 groups have sailed on the Alliance so far, and 70 percent of participants rate the experience excellent. The program also runs boat-building workshops where students construct and row their own skiffs.
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