ACLC and Nea Launch 15th Annual Boat Race!

It’s the morning of June 5, and busy groups of Alameda 8th- and 9th-graders from the Nea and Alameda Community Learning Centers (Nea and ACLC) huddle around the edges of the Encinal High School pool. They are readying their teams and discussing strategy for the races soon to take place.

When the sun breaks through the clouds, the students cheer because most of them will be soaking wet before the morning is through. As the air warms, the teams make final inspections of the cardboard boats they conceived, designed and built in their ‘Science through Engineering’ classes.  Many are painted with colorful designs and christened with a descriptive name or symbol for luck, and reflect the artistic and engineering skills of their team members.  As they line up, the teams determine which two teammates will paddle the boat and which two will launch it.

“It’s an important decision,” says ACLC 8th-grader, Grace Bryant. “The paddlers have to be light enough not to weigh down the boat but strong enough to paddle hard.”

“And they have to know how to steer and swim!” adds 8th-grader Avalon Cassard. “There’s a fair chance they won’t make it across the pool since the boats are only made of cardboard, paint and duct tape.”

The annual cardboard boat races have been a tradition at ACLC almost since its founding 18 years ago.  It’s a “legacy project” in their project-based educational approach, meaning it is such a beloved part of school culture that it remains a permanent fixture in the science curriculum at both schools.  The original winning boat still hangs in the ACLC Center at Encinal and will move with them to their new location at 400 Grand Street next year.

What’s new in the past three years is that the race has expanded to include their sister public charter school, Nea Community Learning Center.  Nea’s Lead Facilitator (principal), Maafi Gueye, serves as emcee of the event, and stokes the competition with her teasing banter and entertaining quips directed toward the different teams as they step up to the launching area.

“The competition has heated up now that there are two schools involved,” says Paul Bentz, Executive Director of Community Learning Center Schools (CLCS), the charter management organization that oversees both schools. “It’s no longer just a race between classmates. They’re defending the honor of their respective schools.”

The teams race to win a gold, silver or bronze painted paddle inscribed with their names and hung on the wall of their school.  Until now, the winning boats have also all remained on display in the rafters at ACLC, but ACLC’s upcoming move to 400 Grand Street will prevent that tradition from continuing due to lack of space at the new location.

Enthusiastic learners from both schools fill the stands.  The crowd cheers, claps and calls out as each team completes—or struggles to complete—their timed leg of the race.  A few boats don’t even get past the start line, “melting” upon contact with the water.  Some remain intact until about halfway across the pool when the boat takes on water and becomes impossible to paddle.  Laughing, these paddlers swim to the finish line, dragging a sodden mass of cardboard behind them.  Other boats look impenetrable, like they could race repeatedly, and glide across the pool with minimal waterlog and detours.

“Just like in real life, it’s all a matter of design, construction and quality of materials,” says Carlton Grizzle, facilitator of ACLC’s 8th-grade ‘Science through Engineering’ classes.  “The design will determine how easy or difficult is to steer and paddle the boat, and the quality of materials and construction will determine how long it lasts in the water.  All teams are limited to cardboard, duct tape (on joints only) and paint, but there’s an infinite combination of all these factors in the building of each boat.”