By STEVEN VIERA
Staff Writer
RED BANK — A group of local students can now add boat building to their resumes.
The Red Bank Charter School (RBCS) held a five-week Summer Institute open to all fifth-to-eighth grade students in the borough that emphasized skills in science through a series of hands-on activities such as building their own boats and launching them on the Navesink River.
This year’s Summer Institute, entitled “Set Sail,” revolved around the Navesink as a way of incorporating a local resource into the education process. RBCS Principal Meredith Pennotti explained that giving students the opportunity to see academic principles in action, such as using sailing to teach physics, for example, facilitates learning and engagement.
“I feel the idea of blending different content areas and applying them is the best way people learn,” she said.
The program focused on science, technology, engineering and math, which are known as STEM fields.
Students designed, built and launched a foam core dinghy that was large enough to hold four students. Pennotti hopes that future Summer Institute participants or even students during the school year can construct additional dinghies so that all students have the opportunity to sail their local river in a boat of their own making; she even floated the idea of establishing a sailing team.
RBCS is a public school that serves 200 borough students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and offers admission via an annual lottery.
