Three New Books for Boatbuilding Teachers

Joe Youcha, the dynamo behind the “training the trainer” program Building to Teach, has just published three new books for boatbuilding educators. In the narrative Afternoons in the Boat Shop, twelve year old Emma helps her friend, Bill, build a skiff, and in the process takes lessons in boatbuilding and its related math. Bevin’s Guide to Boatbuilding Math (Bevin was Youcha’s beloved German shepherd) is a companion to Afternoons in the Boat Shop, and it teaches how to build a card-stock model of the 11′8″ Bevin’s Skiff—and delivers further lessons in applied math. And Framing Square Math is a visual lesson in applied math—ratios, triangles, proportions, and such—related to the humble but powerful framing square

Before founding Building to Teach, and the related Teaching with Small Boats Alliance, Youcha was the executive director of the Alexandria (Virginia) Seaport Foundation, where he developed a renowned boatbuilding program for at-risk youth—and inspired similar efforts worldwide. Order the books from Building to Teach.