Wow.  It’s such an incredible honor to be recognized by the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce, as their Citizen of the Year, and I tell you, I’m absolutely truly humbled. You know it’s wonderful to have all you attend but, speaking personally, to have so many friends, colleagues, my brother and sister, and now my first mate on the video, here to share the celebration. It really makes the event so much more special to me. NESS and I have received some awards in the past, but I have to say this is much more important. To be recognized by the local community is absolutely wonderful, so thank you very much. While I accept this award personally, it really reflects the hard work of the entire team, and it really does take a team to do what we try to do. I’m so grateful for their support. So, I guess I should make some comments on that tribute video…Yes, when I get nervous before a race, I do quote Fred Flintstone, and that’s because it’s good luck and it also helps nerves. So I’m kind of nervous now, so if you don’t mind — BE HE HE HO HO!! — Thank you, I feel better now, so we can continue on.

So, after hearing of this honor about a month ago, I sat back and reflected on ‘Why NESS?’ This season starts the mark of our 20th year of teaching community sailing. What started out tomorrow – June 17, 2002 – with just 14 kids, connected into a personal dream and now is something really quite special. We teach Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math using water-based platforms. However, students are learning a lot more. At the same time, they are acquiring skills for life such as self-confidence, perseverance, and teamwork – so very valuable for success in the classroom and outside. NESS is making a difference.

So, why have I devoted so much time, energy, and passion, and other resources volunteering at NESS? You know, that’s a really good question, and winning this award has allowed me to think about that. So those who know me, I’m going to come up with 3 reasons! The first reason; I’ve been interested in education my entire life. Education, in my opinion, is the best way to solve many of the world’s problems. During my third-year career in business, I volunteered in many educational-related activities. From conducting seminars at my college, to becoming the Varsity Goalie Coach for all sports, boys and girls at a local high school, to mentoring, and also being Vice Chair of a Board of Trustees for 12 years; I’ve always been passionate about education. My brother and sister are world-class educators and great role models. Who would have thought when I started out my business career as a young person in Finance at JP Morgan, that my passion and dreams would converge so closely with theirs.

I left the corporate world in 2009, and believe it or not, officially became President of NESS as a volunteer. It was during that general timeframe that we pivoted from being just a summer camp to really focusing on education and working with students year-round. And I’m really pleased to say, thanks to the efforts of all the team, that we’re much stronger today than we’ve ever been, even despite Covid.

Six years ago, I knew I was going to face some very choppy waters, personally. I thought I needed to go out and get a ‘real paying job.’ I consulted a friend who was CEO of Russell Reynolds, a major Executive Search firm, and asked him ‘Hey Clark! What might be available to help me fulfill my passion for education but pay a little bit more than NESS?’ He called back several days later and said: ‘Spike! I have THE IDEAL job for you! An educational start-up, that is creative and looking for a visionary leader to take it to the next level.’ but he was just not sure of the pay. I said ‘Clark… exactly what I am looking for! What do I need to do to get in?! Help me, help me, help me.’ He responded: ‘You idiot, I just described NESS.’

Second reason why I have been so committed to NESS, is that I work with an amazing team, from our Board of Directors right on down. Every day our team is focused on providing an outstanding educational experience to every student, one student at time. I am motivated by their creativity, as you saw in the video, their passion, and their drive to work with every student. As the old guy on the team, my young staff is a lot of fun to work with. You can feel a special energy when you come on campus or look at one of our programs on the water. And I really encourage all of you to do so, because you can really see what motivates me and what drives me to see the smiles on the children’s faces as they come off the water.

In 2018, I had big idea. The staff will call it being Spiked – Sometimes I do have great ideas, and sometimes these ideas are motivated with a short timeframe. I thought to validate our educational mission; we should become accredited by the New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC) the oldest and most prestigious accreditation agency in the country. The same agency that accredits Harvard. By going through the very arduous process, we would become a better organization and improve our ability to serve students; even if we did not succeed. It was a long shot at best. Thanks to the hard work of everyone, we became the first school partner program to be accredited by NEASC. Despite others trying, we still are the only one, which is an incredible achievement and endorsement of the quality of the work we do with schools.

While the accreditation is wonderful, I am most proud of defining our four core values back in the early days of NESS. They mean more today than ever before. These values are central to our strong culture, guide our strategic vision for education, and are the foundation of our success. These four core values simply put: First is Inclusiveness: getting everyone out on the water who wants to be, irregardless of financial means or ability. Experiential Hands-On Learning: the video said that I was a Dyslexic, I learned in college by rote memorization, but that doesn’t solve the world’s problems, you need to go and feel it especially now, post-Covid. Personal Growth: being outside your comfort zone, moving on to challenge yourself knowing that I can do something that I haven’t done before, that I can. Finally, Stewardship: Stewardship of the Environment, but also Stewardship of the community and of your family and your friends, which is so very important as we found out in this last year. Perhaps most importantly, inclusiveness has been in our DNA from the beginning. It is vital to engaging staff and the community in a constructive dialogue and action that is one small step to help combat the toxic issues of racism and prejudice that we face.

So, the third, and the perhaps most important reason for WHY, is the impact that NESS is having on students, and I see it every day. Let me share one story: Devon is a Black 8th Grade boy from the Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School in New London. Terrible home life. His father is incarcerated, his mother is an alcoholic, and he has 8 fairly unruly bothers and sisters. The only place he felt safe was NESS. He’s a very quiet boy. When driving a J-105, a 35-foot sailboat, in 15 knots of breeze, he screams out ‘Hey Man! I’m driving a boat worth $3,000!!!’ Mark Zagol, over there, who’s our Head Sailing Program Director said, ‘Devon, no, it’s worth $100,000.’ Instantly, Devon turns ashen white, he let go of the wheel, the boat rounds up in the wind, sails flapping everywhere, he’s visibly upset and probably crying, the and the kids are going ‘what’s going on??’ and he turns to Mark and said, ‘why are you letting me drive a boat worth so much?!’ Mark says, ‘ No, Devon, you can do this, what’s different now than 30 seconds ago? You can do this, we trust you!’ Devon looks at Mark and says, NOONE has trusted me my whole life.’ Mark goes, ‘We trust you, now get the boat back online.’ He did, and that’s a transformational moment.

Ladies and gentlemen while we teach STEM using water-based platforms, it is those transformational moments which really defines what NESS is all about. The ‘AH HA’ moment when a student feels that he or she can, when doing something different, that allows them to propel forward and excel in the classroom, but importantly, the big world outside.

Let me close by referencing my father’s logbook entry on my first solo sail referenced in the video. This is me when I was 7 years old.  Take a look at my eyes. I am very scared about being out there alone, I am also probably very scared of running the boat back into my father’s topsides, but I also have that feeling of empowerment, knowing that I can, that I will get the dingy back to the boat, safe, and that I can, and I will. It’s really that feeling of empowerment that I had in 7th grade, that we strive to give every student. I know that moment was very important to me in my life, and we hope to give it to students, as many as we can.

If you look even more closely you will see that we were moored in Stonington Harbor. You can see the fishing docks in the distance. I was sailing less than 200 yards away from the property that some 40 years later would become NESS and will be providing those same transformational moments to thousands of students.

So, Why NESS? I have come to realize through this reflection process, that my involvement in NESS was simply meant to be. I am sure my father was proud of me that day, and I’m sure he is now. But most importantly, let me say, that I am very proud of the NESS Team, what we have done together, and how we are making differences in the lives of students.

Let me end by saying I am so grateful to the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce, the Community, for this recognition. I thank you for your support, collectively we can do great things together for our students. They need us now more than ever, but right now for me, it’s an honor to be named Citizen of the Year, so THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Spike Lobdell
NESS Founder, President & CEO 
Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year 2021