What is it like to take a water taxi to school? I work at an online school that serves the Southern Gulf Islands. Students in grades 10-12, and sometimes younger, have the option of travelling to Salt Spring for their education. As a teacher, I generally travel one day per week since my school is primarily online. This is what the water taxi looks like.

I often start out my work day by checking on the location of the two boats: the Scholarship and the Graduate to see where they are.

The dock that I use is Port Washington on Pender Island. We arrive at Ganges on Salt Spring and walk to our destinations from there. I think that this is a unique form of travel. I have seen orcas, giant tankers, float planes, and many other interesting boats while travelling this way. I think that travelling by water taxi is exciting.

There is an interesting sense of community on board. Two boats are in operation at any given time, and the same students and staff generally travel together each day. The total sailing is about 40 minutes each way. During this time, students sometimes sleep, do homework, listen to music, and chat amongst each other much like the teachers do. Most students socialize, and I imagine that this time is critical to their relationships. They have almost 1.5 hours per day to talk.

As I continue my research on online learning environments, I am keeping in mind to think about if there are any impacts that the geography of the school district has on my practice and the experience of the students. I am not yet sure how these tie together but hope to explore this more in the coming year.