Welcome Back to the Harbor School — Orientation 2021

Starting high school can be a whirlwind regardless of who you are and where you go to school. But, imagine boarding a ferry to Governors Island, after 18 months of a pandemic, to attend the first day of your freshman or sophomore school year.

InDock orientation is a week-long introduction to the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School hosted every August before school starts. The public high school, grades 9-12, offers seven Career & Technical Education (CTE) Programs — from aquaculture, to professional diving, to vessel operations —  that prepare students for marine and maritime studies and careers. 

This summer, Harbor School teachers, Billion Oyster Project staff, and student interns hosted two weeks of orientation — for both freshman and sophomores.

Future Harbor school students learning about oyster growth at Pier 101 on Governors Island.

Professional diving student, and rising senior Diana Miranda-Maya was one of the student interns who made this year’s event possible. 

“For most of the students it was their first interaction with teachers, and classmates since COVID started,” explained Miranda-Maya. “I was impressed at how adaptable the students were in coming back to a social environment. 

Diana and her peers oversaw team-building exercises like a scuba diving simulation that gave students a taste of the professional diving program.

“Two of my classmates, my teacher Zoë, and I organized the diving simulation to show the difficulties and the beauty of the diving program, said Miranda Maya. “To warm up, we started with a birthday game where students had to line up in the order of their birthdays without speaking to each other. I was impressed by the creativity and support I saw between the groups. 

The Billion Oyster Project community is looking forward to supporting the Harbor School during the 2021-2022 school year with the hope that new and existing partner programs can pick up where they left off before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I learned so much from this short experience,” said Miranda Maya. “I’m beyond  grateful for this opportunity to give the exact and even better experience that I received during my freshman year of Indock.”