Education
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More than 60 ships from 20 countries and 7,000+ international sailors will participate in the June 2026 Sail250® Virginia events. This offers incredible opportunities for students of all ages across the Commonwealth of Virginia to get involved and incorporate maritime themes into their educational curriculum in school or at home! Sail250® Virginia programming and events will illustrate the importance of Virginia’s maritime community throughout our history and in our modern world, recognize the importance of our maritime military services, and highlight the strong international partnerships between Virginia and the world.
This page provides educators with the resources they need to participate in the Sail250® Virginia events – as part of our Adopt-A-Ship program, with more than 200 maritime themed online educational links, or with ideas for maritime themed projects to engage their students. We hope you enjoy this material and look forward to you being part of the Sail250® Virginia events!
ADOPT-A-SHIP
The Sail250® Virginia Adopt-A-Ship program allows schools, homeschool co-ops, youth programs, and civic organizations from across Virginia to directly engage with the international sailors of the visiting ships. Participating schools and organizations can “adopt” a specific ship and become ambassadors for Virginia – learning about the country from which their ship hails, communicating with the ship’s crew before their arrival, and even welcoming their ship to Virginia in June 2026. This downloadable PDF provides more information about the Sail250® Virginia Adopt-A-Ship program and how to get involved.
SPEAKER SERIES
As the United States approaches its semiquincentennial, Sail250® Virginia is hosting a
three-part speaker series, highlighting the importance of maritime history from America’s
founding to today. These three events, being held in October 2025, January 2026, and
April 2026, will feature award winning maritime authors exploring important aspects and
events from our maritime past. Each of these events will include a talk followed by a
question-and-answer session and a reception with light refreshments. The Sail250®
Virginia Speaker Series is free and open to the public. RSVPs are required to
reserve your ticket, as seating will be limited.
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 7PM The Slover - Nathaniel Philbrick
Award winning author and historian, Nathaniel Philbrick, has written numerous New York Times Bestselling books including In the Heart of the Sea, Mayflower, and In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown. His most recent book is Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy. He will be speaking about the Revolutionary War, the Battle of the Capes, and Chesapeake Bay's legacy in the American Revolution. Space for this event is limited and RSVPs are required. You can learn more and sign up to attend this event here - https://sail250virginia.com/rsvp/philbrick
Thursday, January 8, 2026 – 7PM The Slover – Dr. Cassandra Newby Alexander, Dr. Cheryl LaRoche and Dr. Timothy Walker – Maritime Aspects of the Underground Railroad
A panel discussion moderated by Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander, the Vice Chair of the Sail250® Virginia Executive Board of Directors, will examine the often-overlooked maritime dimensions of the Underground Railroad, exploring how Virginia's waterways served as critical pathways to freedom for enslaved people seeking liberation.
Dr. Newby-Alexander, Endowed Professor of Virginia Black History and Culture at Norfolk State University, will be joined by two other distinguished scholars – Dr. Cheryl LaRoche, associate research professor in Historic Preservation at the University of Maryland, and Dr. Timothy Walker, professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Dr. LaRoche is the author of Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad: The Geography of Resistance and the forthcoming Apostle of Liberation: AME Bishop Paul Quinn and the Underground Railroad. Her multidisciplinary work has earned recognition from the Maryland Historical Trust and the Society of Historical Archaeology.
Dr. Walker, editor of Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad, brings expertise in Atlantic World maritime history and has collaborated with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on historical climate research using 19th-century whaling vessel logs.
You can learn more and sign up to attend this event here -https://sail250virginia.com/rsvp/UndergroundRailroad
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 – 7PM The Slover – Ian Toll
Renowned nautical historian and bestselling author Ian Toll will discuss the importance of the U.S. Navy in World War II and the role of Naval Station Norfolk in supporting the war effort. Toll is best known for his Pacific War Trilogy and Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy, which won the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature.
His Pacific War Trilogy — Pacific Crucible, The Conquering Tide, and Twilight of the Gods — includes two New York Times bestsellers and has been praised by critics and military historians alike. Toll has lectured at the U.S. Naval Academy, the Pentagon, and the Naval War College, and has contributed to major publications, including the New York Times and Washington Post.
You can learn more and sign up to attend this event here - https://sail250virginia.com/rsvp/iantoll
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
The Sail250® Virginia educational team has collected links to more than 200 online resources and nearly 100 books that focus on maritime history from our country’s 250 years. These resources include personal narratives and oral histories, videos, and educational curriculum from some of the best maritime institutions around the country. Whether you are a teacher, parent, youth leader, or just interested in maritime history, this collection of resources contains great content for you to enjoy and share! The downloadable PDF allows you to quickly find maritime content related to specific themes, time periods, or formats, and to directly access those links from the PDF. Sail250® Virginia is grateful for the support of The Port of Virginia in our efforts to compile and present these resources to be used by teachers and students.
SUGGESTED MARITIME PROJECTS
Looking for inspiration on how to engage your students in maritime projects related to the Sail250® Virginia events? This collection of maritime themed projects and educational content has something for students of all ages – from coloring and activity books to mock U.N. style maritime incidents from world history. Whether you are in a classroom, or in a kitchen (galley), find a project that is right for you and your student’s interests and abilities. Sail250® Virginia is grateful for the support of The Port of Virginia in our efforts to compile and present these projects to be used by teachers and students.
The "Dispelling the Myth" project was a collaboration between the Film and Humanities Institute at Norfolk State University, Norfolk Public Libraries, City of Norfolk, and Norfolk Festevents, LTD in 2019. The project dispels the myth that Norfolk Harborfest® and modern tall ships are associated with the historic slave trade. The brochure below provides information about the project, which continues to be a valuable educational resource today.
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