1. Participants are students who will be graduating from the seventh grade (ages 12-14) and includes boys and girls expressing a sincere commitment to attend ALL classes. The program is designed to allow for other activities that the student may be involved with during their summer break.
2. The program is designed to encourage the student to learn by doing. It takes a combination of teaching in the classroom and on the water which provides a positive environment for the students, teachers, and volunteers.
3. Combine this age groups attention ability with interesting, new, and fun activities and you achieve a life-long memorable experience and a motivational force.
4. The entire program is a hands on experience where proper choices must be made:
  A. Do not jeopardize your own or your passengers safety
  B. Everyone learns through a sequence of thought process that must be completed before proceeding with an activity, whether for fun or for work.
  C. Come to understand that the consequences of negligence or failure to make the right choice.
  D. Learning life’s major lessons – you are not invincible and you must respect a more powerful mother Nature and react in a positive manner to each and every situation.
5. The student learns the importance of exhibiting proper behavior in, on, and around the water, first in the classroom and immediately following in/on the water. They come to understand the negative consequences of inappropriate behavior or lack of respect for an environment with inherent, possibly fatal, dangers.
6. The group exercises (pool classes, jon boats, sail boats, canoes, kayaks, shells, personal watercraft, large vessel) provide a sense of team in a new environment, which can often times be threatening. With knowledge, training, and individual jon boat, canoe/kayak and sailboat operation in a forgiving environment (it is OK to make mistakes while docking, but no mistakes are allowed when it comes to personal safety), all of the activities on the water become an enjoyable experience.
7. To continue in the program the student must achieve proficiency by satisfactorily completing a National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) course of study within their state, meeting their state requirements for education. The first level of achievement serves as an example of the students commitment to an individual effort and study into the program in order to experience the next level of adventure and challenge.
8. The instructors and volunteers, who come from all walks of life, are excellent examples of how people benefit from listening, listening, and commitment. Their individual approach to solving the same problems in different ways, their ability to communicate, their sense of values, and finally, their ever present concern for orderly and appropriate behavior serves invaluably for the students. It is highly recommended that ALL volunteers participate in a background check, attend orientation and review all curriculum.
9. The program is designed to give all students a better understanding of our local environment on the rivers and lakes in their communities; their delicate balance, and the importance of insuring that they are not abused.
10. Weather and weather forecasting become vital examples of the importance of planning and controlling your water activity environment. The examples of weather extremes, storms, and their importance to everyone on or around the shoreline serve to develop a new life long interest in the weather and environment.
11. The jon boats, sailboats, canoes, and kayaks, which every student will spend six hours in the curriculum associated with each of those particular vessels, provide situations where both students and volunteers will make mistakes. For the most part these mistakes are made without fear of reprisal but, with anticipation of doing it better the next time. It also establishes a level of concern for the passengers’ safety when you are controlling the vessels direction and speed with an outboard motor, or simply relying on human power.
12. The students become “Captain’s of their own vessels.” This sparks a feeling of independence and self esteem which emphasizes the importance of behavior which befits the position. It is important to develop these patterns well in advance of the student’s 16th birthday and their own set of car keys.
13. The program includes activities that are primarily fun and exhilarating. Personal watercraft have also been provided for the program. Valuable safety lessons are drummed into their ears while an adult accompanies them through each activity. The student can choose the level of performance and handling skill where they feel comfortable, during the three hour minimum curriculum. Some students will also go beyond the level of control and have to react in the water in varying positions or conditions. All students will learn how to react to capsizing, man over board, or engine failure.
14. The United States Coast Guard, or other like agency, large vessel experience provides a group experience in a strong, stable, safe environment which is very conducive to learning. The machinery and electronics may seem overwhelming at first, but, after the first session there is a sense of comfort that comes from new found knowledge, as well as a newly developed sense of interest in the United States Coast Guard Homeland Security, or State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, and dedication to education and career. Students will spend at minimum, three hours in a large vessel experience.
15. The start up procedure for operating the large vessel serves as a strong statement regarding the parallel requirement for orderly care of the students mind and body. Cleanliness and proper operating equipment are implicit with all activities.
16. The 14’ sailboats introduce the student to the equipment that allows them to test their skill without any form of auxiliary power. The student must become one with Mother Nature and learn to pay close attention to what nature is allowing them to do in a vessel. There is a great deal to learn about the science of aerodynamics and physics that a student may not even be aware that he/she is learning until these thought processes are used in their future life. The sailboat experience, which may appear a little overwhelming at first, is provided through the volunteer instructors in a positive and non-threatening manner. Man overboard and capsizing drills are taught as well as the points of sail and how to achieve them (ie: tacking, jibing, reaching…)
17. The student achieves proficiency in orderly care of the mind and body, through exercises on the large vessel. The same is true in the sailing, canoeing, kayaking, jon boat and personal watercraft exercises. There are certain steps that must be followed in order to have a pleasant and safe experience. There is knowledge gained from the organizational skills in the start up of these programs. Taking care of the equipment so that it will last is just one step in responsible behavior for equipment that they will own in the future, and for respect of equipment that is owned by others.
18. The diesel engines, the outboard engines, transmissions, controls, radio and GPS equipment, fuel tanks, fuel shutoffs, bilge pumps, filter systems, and life saving equipment are all introduced in most cases as new “gadgets’ and they stimulate a students curiosity. The program introduces such a large variety of new items and activities that there is little opportunity for boredom. It makes learning a truly positive experience.
19. The state of the art electronics are fascinating to middle school aged children. Reading bottom charts, radar, global positioning systems, chart plotters, or conventional navigation by compass, and learning to “read the wind”, gives the student experiences which become central themes for discussion with parent’s siblings, and friends.
20. Graduation provides a platform for the student to gain recognition in front of there families and friends, teachers, volunteers, and fellow classmates. Future graduations will also honor specific volunteers, educators, and new program benefactors.
21. As a MOST significant note---students of the Spirit of America Programs are changing the way that we feel about safety equipment, namely life jackets. In the U.S. it may soon be required that boaters using a particular size vessel, or in certain weather conditions will be required to wear a life jacket. Just as we adjusted to bike helmets and seat belts, our young people are adjusting to the thought that they should always have on a life jacket when near or involved with water or boating related recreational activities. Students have a new mindset, which share within their families, becoming naturally conditioned to protect themselves against the inherent dangers which exist in water recreation.