The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding (NWSWB) recently announced that it has received a $1.3 million gift from the Camilla Chandler Foundation which the school used to fully retire the debt on their academic facilities.

Christina Ruben, Interim Executive Director notes that the timing of the gift is especially meaningful. “As we head into the 2026–2027 school year with strong enrollment, retiring this debt puts the school on even stronger footing and frees up more of our resources to focus on what we’re here to do, supporting the students, the skills, and the craftsmanship that lies at the heart of the School.”

While the school was founded in 1981 in the Port Townsend Boatyard it moved to its current campus around 2002. This gift culminates nearly 25 years of incremental improvements that have created a campus the school says is custom-built for teaching hands-on skills in boatbuilding and marine systems.

NWSWB’s Board has prioritized investments in the campus to provide a high-quality learning environment.

“This month’s gift from the Camilla Chandler Foundation fulfills the vision we set about a quarter-century ago for a campus dedicated to teaching the marine trades” reports Roger McPherson, boat school alum, Board President (2000) for whom one of the buildings is named.   

Gifts to pay off debt are relatively less common than more visible gifts directly funding to new programs, initiatives, or buildings, but can end up having a significant impact.

“As a representative of the Camilla Chandler Family Foundation, I want to acknowledge the progress the school has made in the development of their programs and physical campus,” says Alex Spear, a trustee of the Camilla Chandler Family Foundation and the son of its late founder and namesake, philanthropist Camilla Chandler Frost.

“The ripple effects of those accomplishments can be viewed in the lives of the students who are prepared to find meaningful jobs in the marine sector. We are pleased to be able to help retire this debt, freeing up resources for the school to invest even further in its students and programs moving forward.”

This gift, which the school calls “transformational,” coincides with unique difficulties faced by higher education institutions right now who are currently contending with inflation that increases costs, but without commensurate increases in federal student aid. 

Port of Port Townsend Commissioner Carol Hasse, sailmaker, and past NWSWB board member notes, “In a time of increasing nationwide need for maritime workers and a diminishing number of marine trades schools, it is a blessing that the NWSWB lives on through the generosity of our community. The pride, reverence, value and integrity of hands-on skills taught at NWSWB lives on too. Seen in lovely seaworthy vessels, but also in meaningful work, self-confidence, community culture and economy. School graduates contribute to a beautiful and functional future and better world”.

 https://nwswb.edu/