Perth Amboy, NJ to welcome 6 teens selected to participate in on board leadership development.
WEST POINT, NY (June 18, 2012) – The tall ship Unicorn and her onboard leadership
program, Sisters Under Sail, will sail into Perth Amboy, NJ this Friday, June 22nd with a ship full of teens from U.S. military families. These girls will be finishing a week long sail with hands-on leadership development lessons delivered by the only all-female tall ship crew in the world. Each of the 6 teen girls who were selected to receive a full scholarship for this week’s voyage from West Point, NY to Perth Amboy, NJ have a parent who actively serves in the U.S. military or who has fallen in the line of duty.
Though they all share a common military bond, the group is diverse, representing the U.S. Army from West Point, NY; Ft. Campbell, KY; Ft. Bragg, NC and the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Cape May, NJ.
Sisters Under Sail is the only sail training organization to specifically target these teens
for leadership development. Sponsors for this initiative include New York, New Jersey and Eastern North Carolina alumni clubs from The University of Notre Dame and the New York City & New Jersey alumnae clubs of Saint Mary’s College.
Dawn Santamaria, Founder and Executive Director of Sisters Under Sail and Hunterdon County resident, has chosen to recognize U.S. Military daughters because “these teens face the difficulty of having a parent deploy for months on end to protect and fight for our country. They are brave, and we at Sisters Under Sail want to show our appreciation for their courage in the face of adversity.”
Santamaria also commented that there was no better port to sail into for the maiden voyage of this new Sisters’ initiative. “The City of Perth Amboy means something to Sisters Under Sail. 8 years ago, Sisters launched its maiden voyage from this New Jersey port that we will be sailing into on Friday with these 6 daughters of our U.S. military.
Working closely with the City of Perth Amboy as our destination for the maiden voyage of our new program seems fitting – like we have come full circle in a way.”
Sisters Under Sail will continue its commitment to bring daughters of the U.S. military
aboard during the 2013 season, when the Unicorn travels to the Great Lakes. Based in New Jersey, Sisters Under Sail helps teen girls and women of all ages build confidence, enhance their self-esteem, develop social conscience and learn the value of sisters working together towards a common goal through sail training. Sisters was born from the personal experiences of the Santamaria family sailing aboard their tall
ship, the Unicorn. Her four daughters discovered their own leadership potential onboard the Unicorn.
Since inception, Sisters Under Sail has put aboard over 450 teenage girls and 250 women, and 45% of those teenage girls have shipped aboard the Unicorn via sponsorship dollars. The Unicorn is Sisters Under Sail’s “experiential learning lab” for her leadership programming.
To learn about Sisters Under Sail’s Daughters of the U.S. Military Initiative, for more information regarding 2013 eligibility or to inquire about sail training programs for women of all ages, please visit sistersundersail.org, facebook.com/SistersUnderSail or contact Dawn Santamaria directly at dawn@sistersundersail.org.
NEWS RELEASE
