LHF Floating Classroom: a look back

August 16, 2022| Education, Environment

By: Donna Macalle-Holly

When I think back to that beautiful May evening at the Garden State Yacht Club in 2018 when our Floating Classroom was christened “Study Hull,” I always have an enormous sense of pride in what we, as a lake community, accomplished together.  

In March of 2017, we submitted a video to the USA TODAY Network’s “A Community Thrives” grant program, in the hopes of receiving funding for a “Floating Classroom.” It felt like a long shot. More than 1,000 organizations submitted videos to compete for nine grants in three categories: arts and culture, education, and wellness. The winners were chosen by votes, and we really needed our community and supporters to come out in force if we wanted to make this Floating Classroom a reality. 

Fast forward to Saturday, June 3, 2017, I was quickly checking my emails to see if any other volunteers would be joining us that morning for scheduled trail maintenance. An email with the word “Congratulations” in the subject line quickly caught my eye. I was literally jumping for joy as I read that the Foundation had been selected to receive a $50,000 grant toward the purchase of a Floating Classroom!

With the initial $50,000 and such strong support from the community, we were able to secure additional funding from the James P. Verhalen Family Foundation and a generous donation from the Szigethy Family.

After extensive research on boat manufacturers and a thorough bidding process, Sightseer Marine in Hudson, Florida was selected to build the vessel for our Floating Classroom. By the end of that year, we had purchased a 40’ covered catamaran pontoon boat to enhance our environmental field trip program and expand our educational programming. Those of us on staff at the time clearly remember our excitement on April 11, 2018, when our Executive Director, Jess Murphy, had a friend text her a picture of our Floating Classroom being towed on the highway en route to its new home, Lake Hopatcong! 

In preparation for educating students on the Floating Classroom that spring, our staff and volunteer educators participated in extensive training provided by Princeton Hydro. A 35-minute environmental lesson was developed for use during our educational field trips and was expanded to 90 minutes for our public cruises. 

On May 21, 2018, we proudly welcomed our first students onto the Floating Classroom. That day, 111 fourth-graders from Nixon School and Kennedy School in Roxbury Township boarded the Floating Classroom as part of our educational field trip program at Hopatcong State Park. Just a few weeks later, more than 700 students had gone through the program and participated in water quality experiments on the Floating Classroom. 

In our first year of operating the Floating Classroom, we were awarded an Environmental Achievement Award “for outstanding accomplishment in local environmental protection” by the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) at its 45th Annual Environmental Congress in October.

The successful addition of the Floating Classroom lesson into our education program sent demand for our field trips soaring in 2019.  Then in April 2020, a virtual field trip had to be developed due to the COVID pandemic, and sadly, Study Hull stayed under wrap for an entire year. Virtual field trips continued into 2021, but we were able to offer public cruises that summer. In July of that year, NJ Spotlight News came on board, and you can see their video below.

We were thrilled to be back on the water for in-person field trips and eco cruises in 2022, and thanks, in part, to funding from the NJ Council for the Humanities, we were even able to add a series of historical cruises to our schedule.  

In addition to our educational programs, we also use the Floating Classroom for advocacy efforts.  Federal, state, county, and municipal leaders have all toured the lake aboard the Floating Classroom, a perfect way to get a firsthand look at Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) mitigation and stormwater management projects implemented on the lake and to discuss important issues impacting Lake Hopatcong.

It's hard to believe just 5 short years ago, a Floating Classroom on Lake Hopatcong was still just a dream. But with perseverance and the help of volunteers, supporters, and the lake community, that dream became a reality, and thousands of students and community members have been able to make Lake Hopatcong their classroom for the day. What better place to learn how important it is to care for our precious water resources?