Milwaukee Youth Sailing - Lessons Beyond the Boat

by Milwaukee Community Sailing Center on 21 May 2008 MILWAUKEE, Wis. (May 16, 2008) – Each summer, the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center (MCSC) teaches hundreds of adults and children to sail on the waters of Lake Michigan. Residents from the greater Milwaukee area turn to MCSC for lessons, sailing advice and hands-on sailing experiences. For many MCSC students, the lessons learned from sailing go beyond the boat - young students discover they can steer a sailboat and their lives in the right direction.

Sailing: A Tool to Teach

'When students learn to sail, they are continually faced with new challenges and perhaps even a few fears to overcome,' said Barbara Velez, development director at MCSC. 'At MCSC, we create a positive environment where students meet those challenges and conquer those fears. They learn that with hard work and discipline, the seemingly impossible can be possible – even managing Mother Nature. It’s an incredible sense of empowerment for them.'

The youth outreach programs are targeted at Milwaukee’s urban and minority youth, and need-based scholarships are available to ensure that those interested have the opportunity to participate.
'Imagine an adolescent who doesn’t have much control over his or her life; who every day faces the challenges of poverty, but gets the opportunity to take the helm of a sailboat where it’s just him or her with their crew, a sail and the wind, and yet that adolescent makes the boat go where he or she wants,' said Velez. 'It’s a thrilling experience.'

MCSC has an extensive list of youth classes and community outreach programs, including multiple levels of youth sailing classes, adaptive sailing for persons with disabilities, an early water education program called PRAMS in the Park, and Learning.Building.Sailing., a program where children build a seaworthy boat with MCSC mentors and instructors. In 2007, more than 2,200 at-risk teenagers and children and adults with disabilities had the opportunity to experience sailing with MCSC.

Research Confirms Positive Influence of Sailing

Masters’ students from the Lubar School of Business and a senior professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee recently measured the effectiveness of MCSC youth outreach programs. Research was conducted using literature reviews, academic studies and a comprehensive survey of MCSC youth program participants. The results were remarkably positive, just as MCSC had
predicted. The research indicated that the MCSC programs highly impact the lives of its students, and there is a positive and significant increase in students’ self-esteem levels.

The literature reviews revealed similar studies also provide support for the positive impact of community-based youth programs like MCSC. A recent study from Developmental Psychology, for example, found youth programs influence many facets of the adolescent life. A sample of 2,280 11th graders from 19 diverse high schools produced the following results:

'Organized youth activities, including extracurricular school activities and community-based programs, are settings that provide favorable conditions for adolescents to actively engage in psycho-social growth…Indeed, controlled longitudinal studies have shown that participation in organized activities is associated with positive outcomes on general developmental indicators, such as school completion, adult employment and adult civic participation.'

MCSC instructors and volunteers witness these results first-hand with their students each summer.

'It’s truly amazing to see how these children grow throughout their time at MCSC,' said Peter Rieck, executive director at MCSC. 'They become more self-confident, they develop teamwork and leadership skills, and they learn to love the water and sailing.'

Although many of the MCSC outreach students live only a few miles away, many of them have never been to Lake Michigan before coming to MCSC, let alone been on a boat.

'It’s about opening up the doors of opportunity for these children - not only just with sailing, but for their futures as well,' said Rieck.

MCSC Teams Up with Fellow Community Organizations

The success of MCSC outreach programs caught the attention of other community organizations in the Milwaukee area, and many partner with MCSC for summer sailing, including the YMCA, Boys & Girls Club, Teen Approach, New Beginnings are Possible and Pearls for Teen Girls.

'A tremendous benefit of these sailing lessons is that we put adolescents from all socio-economic backgrounds together, and they come together on the boat the same,' said Holly Davenport, MCSC Director. 'They work together and learn together to accomplish a goal. These kids are developing critical thinking skills and problem solving, together.'

'The more we team up with other community groups, the more children we can provide with sailing experiences,' said Davenport. 'We’re excited the Milwaukee community is recognizing the value of our programming, and we look forward to what the future holds.'

About the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center

The Milwaukee Community Sailing Center provides meaningful programs to experience Lake Michigan sailing that engage all members of the community regardless of their age, cultural or racial background or financial status. Programs are tailored to meet the needs and interests of a diverse population – adults, youths and persons with disabilities, with a focus on innovative and character-building learning experiences. Participants will discover hidden abilities to broaden their life skills and self-development including self-reliance, teamwork, problem-solving and leadership skills. For more information, visit www.sailingcenter.org or call (414) 277-9094.