Two Boys on the 60
On Wednesday afternoons this spring, two fourteen-year-old boys boarded the Route 60 bus headed for Newport.
One lives in Providence. The other lives in Johnston. They both go to the Met School. I got to know them through FabNewport’s Design Make Manufacture program that we run in partnership with the Met School.
Together, the boys will spend more than an hour and a half bouncing around on hard plastic seats to participate in a program called Sail Into Your Future. When they arrive, someone I will pick them up and bring them to Sail Newport, after with six other young people in the van who have been picked up at three different locations.
Upon arrival at Sail Newport we don our four weather gear and for next ninety minutes they will learn to sail J-Boats on Newport Harbor. The next day we will visit Newport Shipyard and learn about marine related careers.
At the end of the day, the process happens in reverse. But this time there are six drop offs at home and I leave the two boys at the bus shelter to wait for the 60 and the bus to Providence, and another bus home.
It’s a long trip for a short time on the water. But opportunities often look different depending on where you live. For some young people, sailing is simply something people do in the summer. For others, it might as well exist on another planet.
Months earlier, a former sailing educator and I happened to reconnect. We started imagining a simple program. Four sailing sessions. Four career exploration experiences. Eight young people. What could be so complicated?
Then reality arrived. Finding young people who might be interested. Working through schedules. Talking, texting, emailing, and using Google translate to communicate with one mother.
Coordinating transportation. Arranging snacks. Collecting waivers. Making sure everyone knew where they were supposed to be and when.
Two sixth graders participated in Newport’s elementary school sailing program years ago but never found a pathway back onto the water. One young woman had sailed small boats and wanted to see what it felt like to captain something bigger. Another learner seemed to come alive the moment he stepped onto the docks.
Some come from single-parent households.Some split time between homes. Some have parents working multiple jobs. None have easy transportation. Some arrive confident. Others arrive carrying a visible mixture of excitement and anxiety, unsure whether they belong, unsure whether they can trust the adults around them, unsure whether they will succeed.
Watching them step onto the docks, you realize that sailing is only part of what is happening. The boats matter. But something else matters more.
A network of people has quietly come together to help these young people access an opportunity that otherwise might have remained out of reach.
Schools shared information. Families adjusted schedules. Transportation was coordinated. Scholarships were identified. The two sixth graders will now have access to the Newport Yacht Club program this summer and be able to continue their nautical journey.
Mentors offered encouragement. Community partners opened doors. None of these efforts were dramatic. Most went completely unnoticed. But without them, sailing never would have happened. People often ask why communities need stronger ecosystems for young people.
The answer is surprisingly simple.
Because opportunities do not automatically become accessible. Someone has to connect the dots.Someone has to build the bridge. For many young people, success is not a matter of motivation or potential. It is a matter of whether enough adults are willing to work together so that possibility becomes reality.
On a Wednesday afternoon this spring, two fourteen-year-old boys boarded a bus bound for Newport. Most people would never notice. But that quiet bus ride may be one of the most important journeys taking place in our community.
A Positive Future Vision does not emerge from a single program. It emerges when an ecosystem of people, organizations, and opportunities works together long enough for a young person to begin believing, “Maybe that future is possible for me.”