News Photo by Darby Hinkley Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Education Specialist Daniel Moffatt, left, receives a generous donation from Captain Pat Hart, Grand President of the International Ship Masters’ Association, on Tuesday.

ALPENA — International Ship Masters’ Association Grand President, Captain Pat Hart, on Tuesday presented a generous donation to the Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena.

The donation will be used to help defray transportation costs for students who visit the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center and other sanctuary sites on educational field trips throughout the year.

“It’s primarily for the bussing for all the students,” Hart said of the donation.

TBNMS Education Specialist Daniel Moffatt said the donation will make it possible for more students to visit the maritime center and learn about the Great Lakes.

“Transportation is one of the biggest obstacles for participation, especially for rural schools,” Moffatt said.

On Tuesday, third-graders from Whittemore Prescott, located an hour-and-a-half away, visited the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center for an educational field trip.

“Today, we even have a school from Whittemore Prescott, so they’re an hour-and-a-half on the bus,” Moffatt said. “Those costs add up. And for a lot of our programs, especially this third-grade program, we encourage the students to come back multiple times. So, a donation to provide bussing, specifically, goes toward helping us do our job, engaging and inspiring youth.”

Moffatt added that transportation costs have increased over the past several years, so this donation is very timely and helpful.

“We just ran some numbers and did some reports from the last school year, and we were nearly 6,000 students engaged,” Moffatt said.

He said that includes educational programs for kindergarteners through high school seniors.

“It helps teachers, too,” Moffatt said of this type of donation. “Some classes have to fundraise to get here. Our programs are typically no-cost, and a lot of people are surprised to know that.”

Moffatt said bussing is the main cost for schools.

“Really, the only cost to schools is getting themselves here,” he said. “Sometimes, even that is a barrier. They have to fundraise, or parents pay a little bit, so these funds go to allow teachers to bring them when they can.”

Hart said he wants to partner with the sanctuary to help students learn more about maritime history and current events in the industry.

“My goal was to start working with the sanctuary again,” Hart said. “We can offer our expertise on the commercial ships out there, help them with the wrecks, and placing buoys, whatever they need, as far as the shipping part.”

He added that education is essential to preparing the next generation to learn about and possibly work in maritime fields.

“Part of our mission is to help educate, and do what we can do financially, to help get kids interested in this stuff,” Hart said.

For more information about the International Ship Masters’ Association, visit shipmaster.org. For more about the sanctuary, visit thunderbayfriends.org.