YESS students complete training in seamanship, celestial navigation, water safety & environmental awareness then set sail for a week aboard the S/V Denis Sullivan. The Tall Ships Festival at the Port of Cleveland was sponsored by the Cleveland Rotary as a way to celebrate our club’s 100th anniversary. We know first hand the challenges that many young people face in our community and the positive results achieved when these students are provided with strong role models and access to quality educational and leadership programs. Project YESS offers an opportunity for a cadre of youth that may lack the confidence, self-esteem, and drive to set and achieve ambitious goals and helps them chart a path that may lead to greater success and happiness. Participants attend a day-long leadership boot camp, followed by four land-based curriculum sessions addressing:
• Safety in and on the water
• Great Lakes ecosystem and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math)
• Seamanship and navigation
• Career relevance and commencement – a program which exposes participants to the unique career opportunities which exist upon the Great Lakes. Upon graduating from the land-base curriculum, our students experience a unique educational adventure: serving as working crew members of a tall ship on the Great Lakes for. YESS participants learn the importance of their role within a community while experiencing a world many never new existed.
