Offshore Leadership Program Overview
With its rich maritime history, Charleston offers the perfect backdrop for an academic program centered on tall-ship sail training. Ashley Hall’s Offshore Leadership Program has distinguished itself as one of the School’s signature programs building leadership skills and a deep love for one’s natural surroundings.
Upper School students apply for the competitive program each spring and participate the following academic year. Their experience includes learning about Charleston’s maritime history, celestial navigation, marine biology, and study of the classics including Plato’s seafaring credo “ship, shipmates, self.” The class is capstoned with a week-long voyage crewing a tall ship along the east coast.
The program provides a transformation experience that instills confidence in girls. A national survey recently released shows girls’ confidence nose-dives 30% in middle school which affects the rest of their lives.* Ashley Hall’s Offshore Leadership Program combats this directly by instilling confidence at vulnerable time in a girls’ life and prepares her for long-term success. It is an excellent example of the inquiry-based, experiential learning that Ashley Hall believes cultivates self-reliant, independent thinkers.
“The Offshore Leadership Program shaped me. This trip was something I never thought I would be able to do, or dreamed of doing before Ashley Hall.” -Maura Mooney, ’20
“Being aboard the ship was a journey in all senses: the transit along the coast to Charleston, the emotional roller coaster I rode through early morning and rocky night watches and finally my spiritual journey which taught me more about myself than I ever dreamed was there.” -Helen Cribb ’14
Learn more about Ashley Hall’s exceptional programs.
*The Atlantic: How Puberty Kills Girls’ Confidence, by Claire Shipman, Katty Kay and Jillellyn Riley.
Media Coverage
One of its kind in the country, Ashley Hall’s Offshore Leadership Program has garnered national media coverage over the years. Enjoy a few articles below.