Reach the World: Voyage of Makulu

Reach the World is an educational non-profit that brings real-world learning into classrooms through global expeditions. I was one of five crewmembers responsible for crewing the boat and documenting the voyage on an educational website that classrooms follow online. As Director of Field Expeditions, I researched and planned land-based itineraries in ports-of-call in more than 50 countries and directed content production for the website. I managed relationships with 25 participating classrooms, coordinating student-designed itineraries and collaborative projects.

My crewmembers and I reported on the nose-painting rituals of the Kuna Indians on the San Blas Islands and the mating rituals of blue-footed boobies in the Galápagos. We chronicled descents into gem mines in Sri Lanka and traced the real geography of Homer's Odyssey in the Mediterranean Sea. In every port, we visited local schools and interviewed children about their daily lives and pastimes. As one student put it, “Reach the World is proof that the stuff we learn about really exists.”