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Project Sail, Inc. |
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Education Under sail |
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Director |
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Having grown up in Manhattan and attended public schools. I first experienced sailing through the Sea Scouts program in the Bronx and an internship at the South Street Seaport Museum, and I appreciate the opportunities sail training programs presents to youth who may not have many options. Providing sail training with urban youth can be a challenge. Their lack of experience in other surroundings is a challenge. When you take somebody out of their own environment they get defensive, and sometimes I’ve worked with kids who just don’t want to be there. |
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However, the reward is more than worth the work: The transformation from the time they come on board to the time they leave -- seeing that change and the formation of the connection with the crew and their fellow shipmates – that’s great. But the biggest reward, is for the kids: They’re able to come on board and have this life-changing experience. What an accomplishment! – sailing a 34 foot sloop in NY Harbor, just steps from their own neighborhoods. -Captain Aaron Singh |
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Captain Aaron Singh in command of the two masted schooner Lettie G. Howard in Buzzards Bay, MA. |
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Phone: 917-797-8914 E-mail: asingh@projectsail.net |
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Captain Singh accepts Sea Education Program of the Year Award from the American Sail Training Association at the annual conference in 2004. |
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Aaron Singh has worked for the South Street Seaport Museum in a variety of capacities. In February 2008, Aaron stepped down as Master of South Street’s Museum vessels, after 13 years of service and hundreds of sea miles between Philadelphia, PA and Rockland, ME. He leaves the museum’s sail training programs with many accomplishments under his belt including construction overhauls throughout the Museum’s fleet, start of the NY Harbor School program aboard Lettie G. Howard and continued opportunities for NYC youth to sail along the coast during summer programs. Aaron is one of the youngest full-time masters in the sail training community and is committed to providing programs to inner-city youth by example. |
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Prior to commanding the schooner’s Pioneer and Lettie G. Howard his summers were spent coordinating team building programs for the NYC Board of Education’s School Construction Authority (SCA), a program implemented for high-school students. The program uses Museum vessels for daylong sails, overnights, dockside activities and boat-building projects. The teambuilding program had well over 6,000 students participating to learn teamwork and leadership skills in a maritime environment. |
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Captain Aaron turns over the helm to a ninth grader with the NY Harbor School in the Hudson River. |