POLICE vs. FIRE Regional Rowboat Face-Off

The Course

200 Yards. Start & Finish lines even with the dock, out 100 yards and back.

The Boats

    The Whitehall rowing boats that will be used in the POLICE Vs. FIRE Regional Rowboat Face-Off (pictured above, and based on a 19th century workboat design), are now under construction in the boat shop of the Independence Seaport Museum by students from Philadelphia’s own Charter High School for Architecture and Design (CHAD).  

   This is the pilot initiative in a program new and unique to Philadelphia, Independence Seaport Museum’s SAILOR (Science and Arts Innovative Learning On the River) program, which will utilize the hands-on process of boatbuilding to teach core science and math concepts as a fully-integrated portion of a partnering school’s curriculum.

   The Museum will provide lesson plans to high school instructors that highlight the math, science, and history concepts that will serve as the basis of the workshop activities each week. Students would then apply these lessons at the Museum's Workshop on the Water two to three days per week.

   The boats constructed by these students will serve as an educational tool for the Museum’s outreach programs, just as they are being used in the race in July.  Independence Seaport Museum is offering adolescents an unparalleled experience, while teaching key concepts and skills that will prepare them for their future. We believe we do not simply build boats, we build futures.