Guest Blog by Jordan Hanssen, author, adventurer, speaker
& President of OAR Northwest
Little did my parents know what developing an appreciation for classics like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn would inspire in me. Maybe it’s not an exact correlation between reading about Tom and Huck’s adventures in grade school and fifteen years later deciding to take a 29-foot rowboat across the Atlantic Ocean in a race that took 72 days. However, there is no denying my first explorations were through books and reading about others experiences on the Mississippi River led me to wanting to have some adventures of my own.
OAR Northwest set out to cross the Atlantic Ocean a year ago from Dakar, Senegal, West Africa to Miami, Florida, USA
A side effect of rowing across the Atlantic Ocean was the incredible amount of knowledge and curiosity it inspired in a wide range of subjects in ourselves and those that watched on the website. Since then the organization has morphed into the adventure and education non-profit OAR Northwest. Next, we will take our love for adventuring and the knowledge that it inspires to the Mississippi River. We want you to be a part of our goal to reach 30 schools along the River in person and 100,000 students online.
OAR Northwest crew member makes his way up Washington States Black River
Adventure: Mississippi River, our next expedition commencing early September 2014, will run the length of the Mississippi River from the headwaters in Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. Through this annual physical and educational descent of the Mississippi River in two- or four-person crews, we layer STEM educational curriculum, scientific research and an adventure narrative, into a multi-media online experience that combines in-person school/classroom visits with participating classrooms. Teachers and educators who are interested in bringing adventure education to their students are encouraged to sign up through our website. The interactive curriculum is totally free and we also plan to visit thirty schools during our journey – three in each state. Click here for a downloadable handout of our objectives in Adventure: Mississippi River. Please share it with anybody your know who may find it interesting or wish to get involved.
We recognize we are coming to a well-loved, well-explored and well-documented ground. 1 Mississippi was created to help quilt the patchwork of organizations already working on behalf of the River. This River captures our imagination as much as yours, and we believe we can add a valuable and inspirational resource to get students’ attention to think about the Great River from top to bottom in scientific, sociological and historical perspectives showing how it all fits together.
We are proud River Citizens!
We believe we have something to offer and we also know when to ask for help.
We want to visit your school next fall!
If you are an educator (or know someone who is) on one of the ten states that borders the Mississippi River, you can email education@oarnorthwest.com for more information, or sign up at oarnorthwest.com/education.
I’m looking forward to meeting you on the River.
Jordan Hanssen is an author, adventurer, speaker & President of OAR Northwest
www.oarnorthwest.com
www.rowingintotheson.com