ARUNDEL — When Casey Layton looks at the wooden boat he helped to create, he sees beauty.
"To
have such shape and beautiful lines, it's easy to fall in love with. It
draws people in, I think," he said looking at the pea pod he's creating
with partners in the wooden boat building program at The Landing School
in Arundel.
The post-secondary educational institution,
which offers diploma and degree programs to prepare students for careers
in the marine industry, is meeting the needs of students seeking a
hands-on education or an alternative to the traditional four-year
college education. Administrators say students at The Landing School are
moving away from increasing tuition costs, fewer loan options, and a
lack of job opportunities in their majors, say those at The Landing
School, where students build boats, design yachts, and repair and
maintain marine systems — all by hand.
It's passion like Layton's that The Landing School students surely have in common.
"I love every second of this. I can't imagine doing something I love more," said Layton, originally from Arizona.
The
Landing School, located on River Road in Arundel, was founded in 1978
by John Burgess and Helen Tupper, who sought to keep the fine art of
building Maine wooden boats alive at a time when faster and more
efficient forms of production were coming about. Now, the school that
had its first class in a cow barn provides courses not just in wooden
boat building, but also yacht design, marine systems, and composite boat
building. Students learn first-hand how to custom build a boat, restore
engines, and more, with the items they create sold to school supporters
for use in waters around the country.
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