Photo by Martha Blanchfield / Renegade Sailing

IT STARTS WITH THE FOOD. Lunchtime visits to the Life Learning Academy (LLA) reveal a high school where students and staff are engaged in the making, serving, and eating of the food, much of which comes from their own organic garden. The love and nutrition that go into the food are easily palatable.

I was invited there by Kevin Hicks, one of the SSC’s newer volunteers. We met Kevin during the SailGP Inspire program, where he was onboarded to volunteer under the SSC umbrella. It turned out that Kevin, a science teacher at LLA, had also discovered sailing as the ideal platform for teaching physics. His discovery came after taking students sailing at the Treasure Island Sailing Center.

Kevin has an athletic build, an affable personality, and is quick to laugh at the worst Dad Jokes. His journey starts on Lake Michigan, where he gained an early affinity for the water from swimming, canoeing, and kayaking, though sailing was not yet in the mix. In college, at Colorado State in Fort Collins, he enjoyed rafting on the Poudre River and swimming at Horsetooth Reservoir.

Kevin loved science but he wasn’t a physics guy in the beginning. His first love was biology and plants, with an interest in food production, inspired by his grandfather, who had worked for Kraft foods. During his studies, Kevin lived on a commune called Sunrise Ranch. At the ranch, he learned how intentional communities bond around food. In Fort Collins, he ran a small veggie farm that supplied local restaurants. The city life lured him back to Chicago when he and his brother founded a rowing studio gym called Iron & Oar. It reveals another of his loves, which is health, fitness, and wellbeing.

During the pandemic, Kevin began teaching at a high school in Humboldt Park, Chicago. The school had a rooftop greenhouse where they grew food crops and ornamentals. Kevin’s teaching journey of ‘follow the food’ ultimately led him to the Life Learning Academy. He emphasizes how big a draw the community is to him, and how food literally brings people together at the table. They eat well at LLA, but the lunchroom is also a sacred space that brings people together and builds bonds.

Kevin teaches a class he calls “Navigating our Physical World.” He uses sailing to teach physics because it has the “perfect blend of intuitive physics, counterintuitive physics, and centuries of human engineering actively in use.” Fundamental to his teaching philosophy, the students also learn communication, safety, leadership, and self-empowerment by putting their knowledge to use when they go sailing.

Life Learning Academy is a public charter school, founded in 1998, and borne out of studies and recommendations from the Delancey Street Foundation, springing from concerns over San Francisco’s juvenile justice system. With just 50 students, the school feels family-like and welcoming. The SSC has targeted 2024 as the year to begin serving public education, with Life Learning Academy leading that plan. We couldn’t be happier than to have Kevin as a friend and advocate to help make that happen.

The Sailing Science Center took a month off from volunteer activities in January, following active months in November and December.

The SSC needs volunteers! We especially need volunteers who can staff one-day exhibitions as docents. Training, lunch, and SSC logo polo shirts are provided.

Direct your inquiries to info@sailingscience.org.

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We want to give a big SSC shout out to Ann Holte, who raised her hand to volunteer since the last newsletter.

We are thrilled with the interest you have shown and look forward to working together.

AI Notice: Generative Artificial Intelligence was used for imagery in this newsletter. Images should be considered artistic representations, as opposed to precise depictions of fact.