Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see video of the launch and maiden voyage of the White Whale!

Our boat building project is an educational program for our middle school students and is centered around math, science, woodworking, and critical thinking.

We at Sauvie Island School are partnering with Wind & Oar Boat School, an Oregon nonprofit youth education organization dedicated to engaging and inspiring young people through the art, science, and craft of building wooden boats to build a boat each fall here on the campus of SIS. 

Our 7th and 8th-grade students will build a wooden boat in the Fall each year, the same week our 6th-grade students are attending Outdoor School. The week would begin on Monday with a lesson going over the “blueprints” of the boat, the supplies and tools needed and the importance of teamwork and safety during the project. Then on Tuesday through Friday, each class would work for 3 hours on boat building in 3 stations for 3 hours a day. The classes would then swap each day and by the end of the week, we would have a sturdy, river-worthy vessel!

Through the process, our students have the opportunity to experience and participate in a lost art of woodworking through an authentic experience of craftsmanship. As well as having the opportunity to use applied math and science, skills focusing on teamwork, critical thinking, hands-on real-world problem solving, which are all necessary for success in school and future careers.