We built a community around this island
and I feel like our bonds are stronger.
>> For 550 kids in New York City, this is
high school where all of the typical
stereotypes of a high school experience
are met with career training courses
that focus on the ocean that surrounds
their home.
>> I'll do some data. Zoe will do data for
two different groups. All right, sound
good. Okay, let's head down. The goal of
this school was to give opportunity to
maritime education to those students who
may have never been able to get that.
>> Harbor School was founded so that these
city kids could like realize that they
live in this like they're surrounded by
beautiful nature. You know, it's so many
water waterways that are important to
how New York City became New York City.
Students get hands-on experience in a
range of maritime skills to prepare them
for careers in everything from
aquaculture to ocean engineering. They
get the chance to build and operate
boats, designing submersibles, and
[music] even dive in and conduct real
life research.
>> What's up, everybody?
>> Today, we're getting a look at the
school's ongoing oyster restoration
research program.
>> Speedium extra speedium like I like it.
The school works hand in hand with a
nonprofit [music] called the Billion
Oyster Project. Its goal, Restore New
York's once thriving Oyster Population.
>> They're just telling me how many oysters
are on their their shell and then they
tell me whether it's alive or dead and
measure shell height. It's like length
from tip to tip. The goal is to monitor,
study, analyze a billion oysters or get
a billion oysters in water.
>> So the billion oysters project of is to
put a billion oysters back into New York
Harbor.
>> Wow. How do how do we know how close we
are to this goal?
>> Uh by doing monitors just like this. If
a student wants to be involved in the
maritime industry, then this school is
able to provide the opportunities and
the pathways for those students to get
into those uh fields.
>> It's sort of forming a oyster reef at
this moment.
>> Our goal is to get around a billion
oysters in and that should bring back
native oyster populations that were
killed off.
>> Just like a regular class, they receive
grades on assignments. Uh the
assignments are more hands-on, but they
are indeed typical school assignments
that are graded. They're called career
and technical education classes and
they're part of a pathway uh for each of
our state approved programs. Last year,
more than 90% of our students uh were
accepted [music] into 4-year college
programs.
>> A bunch of them that do want to study
marine science uh which is great from
this program. You know, I've had a lot
of alumni who have gone on to study
aquaculture specifically in marine
science. I have one who's teaching our
oyster farming classes now in Maine. So,
that's exciting. [music] Um
>> it's very exciting.
>> Yeah. All right. Can you pull that?
>> Yeah, that's a little bit better. All
right.
>> Harbor alumni Shaina Rajun Dianarin was
so inspired by her aquaculture training,
she went on to become a Billion Oyster
Project employee.
>> Honestly, it's been one of the most
beautiful blessings ever.
>> I got to like do this a little bit in
our like freshman field, which is where
we get to like experience a couple of
all of the programs. And once I did that
in field, I was like this is where I
belong. I belong with all of the oysters
in the muck and the heavy lifting and
all the data. It's beautiful.
>> You love this so much that you come back
now to help. What do you see when when
you look at these youngsters?
>> Honestly, it's really inspiring. [music]
It's so full circle for me to one go
through the program, graduate from the
[music] program, come back to take care
of the space, and then now also get to
come back and work with students and see
them do the same thing. And also see
that they're just as excited about it as
I am. It's not often that you see kids
come in and be excited for school. Not
at all. Right.
>> And then here, they're like, "Oh, we
have oysters today, or we're on the O
eco do today, or this is what we get to
do. Let's get in it."
>> What do you love most about coming out
here?
>> Um, I definitely like this kind of what
I want to do for the rest of my life.
>> What's your hope for people [music] um
through the work that you all are doing
here,
>> how it might impact? I hope that people
like learn about these kind of how how
there are like these kind of jobs and
activities you can do in in New York
like especially like [music] just an
urban place that you can you can still
like save wildlife here like by
interacting with like oysters.
>> For its students, the New York Harbor
School offers a huge leap into their
future.
>> Well, I've known that I want to be a
marine biologist since I was in the
third grade. So, one of my family
friends like knew someone who went here.
They're like, "Oh, like you should you
should check it out. Like, it's a it's a
really cool school.
>> What are you going to do when you
graduate here?"
>> I've applied um to the United States
Coast Guard Academy and I'm hoping you
to get in there. They got a little bit
of a low acceptance rate, but I think I
could do it. I'm in the honor society,
so they're looking for like very
prestigious or people, very academically
smart, physically active people,
>> right?
>> I think I if I can get in there, that's
um free college. Dude, that sounds
dreamy.
>> Everything. So then and then I have to
take I have to um serve for 5 years at
my family.
>> You got this, man.
>> Yep.
>> I'm
having uh time like the time of my life.
>> Do you have any idea of like what your
dream job might be someday? Yeah, I want
to go into college and study aquaculture
and then
uh
continue on that career path. Later on,
I will go back to school, get my PhD,
and uh become a veterinary nurse.
>> Wow, that's amazing.
>> The Harbor School is nestled on
Governor's Island about 800 yardds south
of Manhattan. The former military base
is now part [music] public park, part
cultural and educational hub. And this
172 acre island is only accessible by
ferry, which means for these teens,
their school bus looks like this.
>> I feel like this school has a lot more
diversity, especially because
everybody's coming from all different
areas. Like you have people from Staten
Island. Um I'm not I'm in Brooklyn, so
I'm used to Brooklyn and that's where I
went to school. And so the kids like
have a lot more chances to talk to many
different people, make new friends.
>> What's your hope for the the program?
>> The program.
>> Yeah. You look 10 years from now, 20
years from now,
the impact [music] it might have.
>> Um
I hope that it continues to draw people
in because that's the best best way
[music] to like genuinely get into this
kind of thing is to like get dirty and
fall in love with the earth. that's
around you.
>> So, I hope that we just keep encouraging
people to come out because that's that's
a good way to start.
>> Give me a dirty high five.
>> [laughter]
>> Love