Small Boat, Big Connections: MBS Joins Students in Ireland and Norway on Zoom

Middle School students from Morristown Beard School, Barryroe National School in Ireland, and Senjahopen Skole in Norway came together for a remarkable international Zoom meeting that spanned three countries and two continents, all thanks to a small red mini boat called the Crimson Current. The virtual meeting, moderated by Daryl Clevesy, Assistant Director of Educational Passages, brought together students and teachers from each school to celebrate the latest chapter in the Crimson Current’s incredible journey. Participants shared stories of discovery, repair plans for the boat, and ideas for future collaboration across the Atlantic. During the Zoom, the schools also discussed how the project connects students through shared curiosity, environmental learning, and cultural exchange.

MBS Middle School geography teacher Lisa Swanson P’21 joined the Zoom meeting from Norway, where she was visiting to help strengthen this new partnership, deliver repair materials, and bring along a new sail for the relaunch. Before her trip, MBS students read Irish and Norwegian folktales, explored maps of the region, and prepared pen pal letters for their Irish counterparts. Coincidentally, one of the Irish educators who worked with Barryroe is in Norway this week as well and entrusted Mrs. Swanson with Barryroe’s latest batch of pen pal letters to deliver to MBS students upon her return Monday.

Crimson Current, one of the GPS-equipped mini boats provided by Educational Passages, was first launched by MBS students in 2022, was later recovered and relaunched by Barryroe National School in Ireland, and eventually washed ashore on the remote island of Senja, Norway, more than 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle. After a flurry of attention online, two Norwegian brothers, Per and Stein Grov Eilertsen, volunteered to retrieve the boat from a rugged coastline. They brought it to the nearest school, Senjahopen Skole, a K–8 school with just 35 students. There, the community eagerly opened the hatch to discover letters, photos, and mementos from across the ocean.

The story of the Crimson Current has even made headlines in Norway. A recent article in Folkebladet explained how the boat traveled for more than 400 days across the Atlantic before landing in Senja, the longest recorded route for an Educational Passages vessel.

MBS continues to grow its network of international connections, reminding students that even the smallest vessel can carry big ideas, powerful friendships, and a shared sense of global purpose.