Alexandria Seaport Foundation

Causes: Children & Youth, Crime & Law, Job Training, Prison Alternatives, Youth Violence Prevention

Mission: Through the building and use of wooden boats, the alexandria seaport foundation helps young people turn their lives around and provides families, community groups, and schools with meaningful educational and social experiences.

Programs: Apprentice program-boat building apprenticeships for at- risk youth,teaching carpentry skills, job and workplace skills, academic tutoring towards ged, and life skills including job placement assistance. Twenty-eight apprentices participated in the program, which was led by two paid staff and more than 8,000 volunteer hours. The integrated workshop and classroom education program uses hands-on, project based instruction to 1 redirect older, at-risk youth away from the streets and the courts to disciplined, meaningful paid employment, ii teach them the skills necessary to find and hold a job, iii help them prepare for the ged as needed, iv help them obtain drivers licenses and bank accounts, and resolve outstanding court and immigration matters, and v help them with job placement or with continuing their education.

commission projects and boat kits program- to provide work for our apprentice program, the foundation manufactures boat kits for sale to others and for the use in our building to teach and educational boat building programs. The foundation also undertakes custom boats and other woodworking projects on a commission basis to provide additional work and learning opportunities for our apprentices and volunteers.

educational boat buiding program- provided educational enrichment activities for students still in school, with an emphasis on working with local middle school teachers and administrators to provide hands-on instruction based on carpentry projects to teach math and help students at risk of falling behind in math to improve both their interest in math as a practical skill and their math achievement. Approximately 150 students participated in this program at two middle schools. The primary objectives of the program are1 increase math comprehension and achievement for lower-proforming stduents, ii enhance the interest of students in staying in school generally and in math and engineering in particular, and iii provide productive after-school activites for students to keep them out of trouble.