PORT TOWNSEND — A Blue Heron Middle School teacher is the manager of a new program to integrate maritime curriculum into Port Townsend School District coursework.
Superintendent David Engle selected Sarah Rubenstein over two other candidates to run the Maritime Discovery Initiative.
“She’s the best suited for what we need right now: to get teachers fired up and to begin work on the project,” Engle said.
Engle chose Rubenstein over the other two finalists, Judith Rubin, stewardship director and lead educator for the Northwest Watershed Institute, and Kelley Watson, a longboat captain and trainer who has worked at the Northwest Maritime Center.
“It was a pretty close call,” Engle said.
“Any one of the three could have done a good job.
“But I think Sarah was most able to get traction pretty quickly.”
The position is designed as four-tenths of a full-time-equivalent teaching position and will pay her about $12,800.
Engle said the remaining six-tenths of Rubenstein’s workday has yet to be determined.
The program, scheduled to begin in the 2014-15 school year, is a partnership with the Northwest Maritime Center to infuse maritime-based instruction into all grade levels as well as increase offerings for high school juniors and seniors who want to enter the maritime trades.
It’s first year, the program will concentrate on kindergarten and seventh/eighth grade to start.
Rubenstein will serve as a liaison among the schools, the Northwest Maritime Center and the community.
“I feel privileged to accept a position where I will put to use my skills in maritime education and to be a part of redefining what goes on in the classroom,” Rubenstein said.
“This is not only about maritime; it will take advantage of everything in the area to create an educational program so we can access all of our local resources.”
Rubenstein, 33, has a background in experiential education programs and is an active sailor, she told a crowd of about 60 people at a public interview session April 17.
“As science teachers, it is most important for us to be connected to what is beyond the walls of our classroom,” she said.
“When kids are having fun, they learn more, they have higher test scores, develop higher academic standards, and it leads to a brighter future for all of them.”
Engle said Rubenstein will start in some capacity in the middle of May while continuing to teach science and math classes for the rest of the school year.
“Sarah will decide how much or how little she wants to teach during the next school year. We will then advertise to find a teacher who will make up the difference,” Engle said.
At the end of this year, the position could be expanded to full time.
As for now, Engle and Rubenstein will divide up the load. Engle has been serving as program manager during the initial phase.
“The first step will be to determine how we are to work together,” he said.
“It’s been mostly me up to now. I need to let her take on the responsibility and become the leader of the project.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.