June 9th 2023
Last week, Jaydasin, a 6th grader at the Camden Forward School, said after their canoe build this year that, “it was fun.”
However, there was more than just fun happening during this past school year on Monday afternoons at the Urban BoatWorks boat shop in South Camden.
“I learned to use tools,” Jaydasin added proudly.
Since 2009, born from the vision of Jim Cummings, Urban BoatWorks has been providing fun and skills learning for the youth of Camden, while also building character, teamwork and dreams through the craft of wooden boat building.
On Saturday (June 10), two more canoes built at the BoatShop this school year will be launched at the Cooper River Yacht Club, including a 16-foot Merrimack canoe (pictured above) built by CFS students.
From the program’s beginning, with the mentorship of a core group of 20 adult volunteers, middle and high school youth have handcrafted over 50 sailboats, canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards and launched them on local waterways.
Veteran volunteers Dave Schill, Bob Lehman and Janet and Allan Hanlon led the Monday after-school build with CFS this past school year.
Under their skill and leadership, the CFS students were first taught how to loft measurements from a blueprint and onto the plywood to be cut and then introduced to stitch-n-glue construction.
This school year, there were 10 cohorts from Camden schools and after-school programs as well as the UrbanPromise International Fellows program who worked inside the BoatShop located at the Camden Shipyard and Maritime Museum in the Waterfront South section.
All totaled 70 students, including the 9th graders at Urban Promise Academy, who helped build a 16-foot cedar strip canoe that will also be launched on Saturday, worked on the boats or woodworking projects in their classroom this year.
When asked what it was like to work with the adult volunteers, Jaydasin said, “it was cool.”
Join us in celebrating as we will launch the beautiful boats on June 10 at the Cooper River Yacht Club located at 450 S. Park Drive, Collingswood. Festivities begin at 9 a.m. until noon. Donuts and fruit, juice and coffee will be provided. Families, friends and staff of the schools are all invited to also paddle in the canoes!