NYC Ferries will become floating classrooms for science students

The world is their oyster. Science class will look a lot different for Big Apple public school students next year as they ditch the classroom and hitch a ride on the NYC Ferry to learn about the city’s waterways. The new floating classroom initiative will bring thousands of K-12 students on 90-minute interactive voyages across the New York Harbor during off-peak weekday hours.The sea school was officially unveiled Monday, with leaders calling the project a testament that “the entire city can be a classroom.” “Some of the most meaningful learning happens beyond the walls of a school,” Jeanny Pak, COO of the city Economic Development Corporation, said at Brooklyn Bridge Park.The interactive classroom comes thanks to a partnership between the Billion Oyster Project, NYC Ferry, New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Hornblower Group. According to Pak, the program is a way to get more use of existing infrastructure to educate and empower the next generation. “We’re taking our beloved NYC Ferries transportation system that connects neighborhoods through our waterways and using it to create educational opportunities and open pathways for young people,” she added.The program — slated to start next September — will operate on school days from Labor Day through Memorial Day, with up to two voyages each day that can accommodate approximately 300 students and teachers.Once aboard the repurposed ferries, students will break up into small groups where educators from the Billion Oyster Project will lead age-appropriate activities about marine life, climate resilience and the people and industries that keep the harbor moving.“When you’re on the water, you see the city from a new and different perspective, and you see this extraordinary ecosystem that we have here in New York City,” said Billion Oyster Project’s Director of Education Ann Fraioli.From flipping through nautical charts to testing water quality and viewing live organisms...