Education/School Tours

• Education/School Tours
• 2008 Programs Offered by Corn Hill Navigation
• Planning Your Trip
• Directions, Transportation and Parking

Education on Board Sam Patch

Education is at the heart of Corn Hill Navigation's mission. We are committed to lifelong learning about the Erie Canal and Genesee River -- their history and impact on the nation, present development, and future promise. Each year, thousands of young people, as well as learners of all ages, experience American history on the Erie Canal firsthand through our onboard cruises and education programs.

We offer live, onboard narratives on every cruise. Additionally, we provide onboard field studies for school groups and home schools, as well as scout, camp, recreation, and other youth groups. Many programs are also popular for birthday parties. Imagine your students exploring our nation's cultural heritage, history, technology, natural science, and more from the unique vantage point of the waterways that have so powerfully influenced life in our region and our nation!

We understand that elementary, middle, and high school students benefit from experiential field studies that are fun, educational, and long-remembered. Cruising experiences are long-remembered because they:

• engage young people and all of their senses.
• enable young people to imagine and wonder.
• provide links between what is learned in classrooms and how a young person thinks about the world and views his/her place in it.
• enable young people to interpret national history in their own community.
• are relevant and help build critical thinking skills and educated future citizens.

Please explore the Education/School section of this website to choose your program and plan your trip from the 2008 School Tours and Education Programs. Contact us with any questions, for more information, or with feedback.

Prepare your class for their cruise utilizing our Historic Waterways Adventure Online Curriculum.

 

2008 Programs Offered by Corn Hill Navigation:

Field Studies onboard Sam Patch packet boat replica

Teachers may create their own curriculum or choose from one of Corn Hill Navigation's New York State curriculum-based Education Charters:

Erie Canal Education Charters onboard Sam Patch

• Depart from Schoen Place
• Take place mornings, early afternoons
• Length: one hour
• Maximum number of students: 40
• Cost: $150

A live, onboard cultural heritage narrative enables students to identify compelling evidence of the past, present, and future of the canal on Sam Patch Erie Canal Education Charters. Highlights include:

• an historic canal village and contemporary redevelopment
• towpaths and trailways
• wildlife and recreation
• the modern canal and remains of the original canal bed
• a century-old canal lock

All Erie Canal Education Charters travel through Lock 32, experiencing a 25-foot elevation change.

A Traveling School of Science on the Erie Canal onboard Sam Patch

• Departs from Schoen Place
• Takes place mornings, in October
• Length: two hours
• Cost: $300
• Maximum number of students: 32

This partnership program with Rochester Museum & Science Center Players is a total immersion theatrical experience that transports students back to 1826. That is the year that Professor Amos Eaton took a group of young people the entire length of the Erie Canal. Students meet "Professor Amos Eaton" and a "canal boat cook" and become the professor's fellow scientists and students. Students explore science and nature as they travel through a canal lock, cross The Great Embankment, and conduct hands-on investigations in geology, botany, and cartography.

Children's Workshops onboard Sam Patch

• Depart from Schoen Place
• Take place mornings during July and August
• Length: 90 minutes
• Cost: $25 per person
• Maximum number of students: 20; Minimum: 15

Created by well-known educator Elaine Berner, these programs can be enjoyed by adults and children together, for birthday parties, or by any group of young people.

Be a Lock Tender:
Learn about the workings of the Erie Canal locks from inside, on top, and down under. Set sail on the Sam Patch to explore Lock 32 behind-the-scenes with NYS Canal Corporation staff. For 8-10 year olds.

Quack Attack:
Ducks, geese, and herons have been Erie Canal visitors since it opened in 1825. Come on board the Sam Patch for up-close observation of these critters; learn how to draw ducks and how to keep them healthy canal visitors for years to come. For 4-6 year olds.

Erie Entertainment:
As the Erie Canal traverses the Empire State, it covers hundreds of miles. Why did people travel on the canal? How did they keep from being bored on their 5-10 day journeys? Come on board the Sam Patch and find out for yourself. For 6-8 year olds.

Tea Time:
Learn how to make tea the old fashioned way, then "sup" with us. While waiting for the tea to brew on the Sam Patch, take leisure, enjoy the magnificent sights, and paint a landscape of the Erie Canal. What a glorious, refined morning it shall be! For 7-9 year olds.

Captain & Crew:
Board the Sam Patch to learn about the work of the captain and crew while sailing along the Erie Canal. Explore, navigate, learn the language, and tie commonly used knots. For 8-10 year olds.

Field Studies onboard historic wooden vessel Mary Jemison

Teachers may create their own curriculum or choose from one of Corn Hill Navigation's New York State curriculum-based Education Charters:

Genesee River/Erie Canal Education Charters onboard Mary Jemison

• Depart from Corn Hill Landing in downtown Rochester
• Take place mornings, early afternoons
• Length: one hour
• Maximum number of students: 50
• Cost: $300

A live, onboard cultural heritage narrative enables students to identify compelling evidence of the past, present, and future of the Upper Genesee River extension of the Erie Canal on Mary Jemison Genesee River/Erie Canal Education Charters. Highlights include:

• an historic canal warehouse and contemporary urban redevelopment
• Mt. Hope Cemetery, the University of Rochester River Campus, and Genesee Valley Park
• Abundant water birds, including Great Blue Herons
• The picturesque junction of the Genesee River and Erie Canal known as "the Crossings."
• Spectacular views of Rochester's skyline featuring the award-winning Frederick Douglass-Susan B. Anthony Bridge.

A River Runs Through Us onboard Mary Jemison

• Depart from Corn Hill Landing in downtown Rochester
• Take place mornings, early afternoons in May
• Length: two hours
• Maximum number of students: 45
• Cost: $450

This field-based science program is presented in partnership with the Rochester Museum & Science Center. Students investigate the water quality and ecology of the Genesee River and Erie Canal. Research methods include measuring and comparing temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and macro-invertebrates in samples collected from the water. Students report on their findings, discuss the health of the river and canal, and decide how to act to conserve these historic waterways.

The Historic Waterways Adventure onboard Mary Jemison
is a three-part onboard and classroom New York State curriculum-based program for 4th and 7th graders that is customized for the students participating. Authentic documents and artifacts, and inquiry-based learning activities related to the Erie Canal and upper Genesee River, as well as a river/canal cruising experience, are the teaching tools of this exciting program. Students investigate the past, present, and future of the river and canal using methods that are interesting and relevant to them, and which build connectedness to their community.

Cost is based upon number of students participating, and how the program is tailored for the participants. Please call 585-509-8229 for formation.

 

Planning Your Trip

Making Reservations

Advance reservations are required for all education charters and programs.

Please call 585-662-5748 or email us at info@samandmary.org

Keep in mind the maximum number of students permitted in the program you are requesting.

If possible, have more than one date in mind.

 

Preparing for Your Cruise

Historic Waterways Adventure Online Curriculum

A consortium of educators and historians have created a series of investigations that will prepare your students for their Erie Canal cruises – as well as for the Document-Based Questions that are part of 5th and 8th grade Social Studies Assessments. The Historic Waterways Adventure Online Curriculum enables students to examine facsimile canal-related documents and engage in learning activities that explore life on the Erie Canal. Historic Waterways Adventure Online Curriculum learning experiences:

• replicate methods that historians use to investigate the past
• actively engage young people in activities that build knowledge through opportunities to wonder, make inferences, and draw conclusions
• are multi-disciplinary and explore topics ranging from: "Moving goods on the Erie Canal" to "The Canal in Winter" and "Canal Songs, Stories, Folklore and Entertainment"

Corn Hill Navigation provides teacher professional development programs using the Historic Waterways Online Curriculum for interested educators.

Cost: $250 per two-hour workshop.

Cost to use the online curriculum through the Internet: Free.

What to Wear
Both Sam Patch and Mary Jemison have enclosed main cabins as well as open air bows. Neither boat is heated or air conditioned. It is important that students dress for the weather: jackets and coats when it is cold, rain gear when it is raining, and layers when it is hot. High heels and flip flops are not recommended for boat cruises. Shoelaces must be tied before boarding.

Safety regulations
Both Sam Patch and Mary Jemison are U.S. Coast Guard inspected vessels and meet or exceed all safety standards. Life jackets for every passenger are carried onboard each vessel, and their locations will be pointed out at the beginning of each cruise. For students' safety, chewing gum, running, and shouting are not permitted during cruises. In the event of an emergency, everyone follows the Captain's orders. Crew, teachers, and chaperones should don life jackets first and then assist students.

Special needs students
Please advise us when making your reservation if you have students with special needs. We are committed to ensuring welcoming and successful learning experiences for all students who cruise on Corn Hill Navigation's vessels. Mary Jemison is easily accessible to wheelchairs. Passengers enter Sam Patch via a set of four steps.

 

Directions, Transportation and Parking

Directions to Sam Patch's dock at Schoen Place.

Directions to Mary Jemison's dock at Corn Hill Landing.

Free parking for cars and busses is available adjacent to both of our docks.