New schools often have ceremonial ribbon cuttings and celebrations to mark their openings — but not quite like this.
Last month, champagne bottles crashed against the hull of a new New Jersey's newest classroom. The first-of-its-kind, electric-powered learning experience - part classroom, part boat - trades biology and science posters on brick walls for fresh air and real nature.
The 49-foot catamaran has 48 batteries, 24 solar panels, and no need to "fill it up regular."
It's name is Firefly, and it is the new flagship electric "floating classroom" of the nonprofit Upstream Alliance.
"This boat is hope. It's fun. It's whimsical. Firefly," said Don Baugh, the nonprofit's founder and president.
Later this month, the boat will be making a trip from Maine to Camden, where it will find its new home at the Wiggins Park Marina.
It will be the latest step in reconnecting the Camden community with its neighbor, the Delaware River, Baugh said.
"We saw Firefly as a critical piece in that kind of reconnection of the city to a city of waters," Baugh said.
Upstream Alliance is a nonprofit that takes students and conservation leaders to connect with nature through trips on the water. It does most of its work in Camden, though it also has programs ranging from Maryland's Chesapeake Bay to New York's Flushing Bay.
Teams have taken people kayaking or on chartered boats in these waters, but Firefly is different.
The concept of a floating classroom is not new, but Firefly's all-electric design makes it the next big development, Baugh said. Upstream Alliance's goal is to bring students aboard three times before they graduate from high school to learn science and technology on the water.
"It's a great lab of sorts. It would help inspire kids about STEM education, but also about careers, like green careers," Baugh said.
When on Firefly, the organization plans for students to study the river by testing the water and observing wildlife. Students can also get a glimpse into how the batteries work, Baugh said.
The project excites Vandita Desai, a science teacher at Camden's Creative Arts Academy, who has been teaching in the city for over 25 years. Desai has previously worked with Upstream Alliance to bring students onto the Delaware with a chartered boat.
She said that students found it more engaging than the same old classrooms and lab sheets.
"When I was in the trip, there was minimum usage of cell phones, except when they wanted to take selfies," Desai said. "They were all engrossed in their learning."
The superintendent of Camden schools, Alfonso Q. Llano Jr., also looks forward to how Firefly will fit into the schools.
"It is an exciting addition that will deepen our students' connection to the Delaware River and expand learning beyond the traditional classroom," Llano said in a statement to NJ.com.
The trips are free for the school district, and will be funded by donations to Upstream Alliance. All the schools have to contribute is the transportation for students to the boat.
During schools' off time, Upstream Alliance will use the boat for teacher training and for educational trips with organizations like Urban Promise, for local political figures like mayors and commissioners, and for Camden County residents through a partnership with the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority, Baugh said.
"It's not just for big shots, it's for everybody," Baugh said.
I'ssabella Morton, a 17-year-old Camden native and Upstream Alliance student ambassador, believes Firefly can help students connect more with nature in their own backyard.
"It's important that people know, it's under their obligation also to help take care of the waterways," Morton said.
The project kicked off in 2021 when Upstream Alliance hired Dave Gerr, a New York-based naval architect who previously designed Solaris — the first fully solar-powered passenger boat for the Hudson River Maritime Museum.
Firefly is mostly solar-powered, but can also plug into land power if needed. The batteries that store the power are also a key difference from Solaris.
Lithium iron phosphate batteries hadn't been approved by the Coast Guard for passenger boats until Firefly, Upstream Alliance said.
Unlike other lithium-ion batteries — an umbrella term for multiple battery types — LFP batteries are long-lasting and have a much lower chance of catching fire, Gerr explained.
"Because they are so hard to catch fire, they're what people use on boats," he said. "If your car catches fire, you get out the door, walk away and call the fire department. If your boat catches fire and you're 12 miles offshore, you've got nowhere to go."
With the design complete and funding secured from American Water, Subaru of America and donations, all that was left was to build the over-$3 million project.
Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding worked for years to create the boat with waves of delays — many of which were spurred by the batteries and getting the Coast Guard to approve them.
"It's not like we don't know how to build boats," Baugh said. "It's a matter of: How do we power boats, and particularly with a new novel system?"
Now that it has launched, Firefly is undergoing sea trials and final certifications before making its journey to New Jersey. Baugh expects it to make its debut as a classroom in mid-October.
If the project works in Camden, Upstream Alliance envisions helping to build more boats with the design to spread across the East Coast and bring people closer to nature with renewable energy, Baugh explained.
"It's a boat of the future," Baugh said. "It's a boat of hope."
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