Gdynia Maritime University GMU

Smiling faces, a multitude of questions, and lots of little hands eager to get to work – that’s what Little Student’s Day looked like on 30 August 2024 at Gdynia Maritime University.

This year’s Little Student’s Day is now behind us. And what a day it was. This year the Promotions Office took the youngest of Gdynia Maritime University enthusiasts to visit the Faculty of Navigation. The group of knowledge-hungry youngsters began the day at 8:00 am. For their classes and activities, the children were divided into three groups – two younger and one older group.

First up was a workshop on survival at sea. The session demonstrated how to remain safe and wait for the rescue services.

Afterwards, the little students were treated to a showing in the University’s planetarium. During an hour-long presentation, all groups carefully observed celestial bodies as they made their way across the sky, both in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, whilst they learnt how for thousands of years people have used the stars to map their place on Earth and how even today knowledge of their movement can still rescue travellers or sailors who have lost their way.

The youngest groups took part in a kynotherapy session. Contact with the dogs brought the children a great deal of joy and they also learnt a valuable lesson on how we should interact with our canine friends.

The older group tested their abilities on radio operating and navigation simulators. The girls and boys did a great job of completing the tasks, proving that the future of the merchant fleet will be in good hands.

After completing the first half of the day’s activities, the Little Students stopped to replenish their energy with dinner, rest, and some fun taking photos in a photo booth. Every participant got the chance to take a souvenir photograph with their new friends.

After dinner, the kids were put in line by the instructor of the University’s Guard of Honour. They found out how to correctly wear the uniform, distinctions and how to fold a flag into a triangle - just like American soldiers in the movies. Next, it was time to try some of what they’d learned. Under the keen eye of the instructor, the Little Students practised lining up in military formation.

The youngest group also took part in a workshop on the nature of the Baltic Sea. The children learned how to recognise the inhabitants of shells, experimented with salinity and water density and got to know the properties of real amber.

Meanwhile, the older group took part in a workshop on first aid. The instructors taught the children how to react in life-threatening or dangerous situations, and how to correctly administer first aid to the injured and call the emergency services.

The day came to a close with a visit from the University’s mascot, the Sea Wolf, who presented the most attentive students with certificates and small gifts.

We would like to thank all children who joined us for the event. Special thanks go to the students and employees of our University, who went to great lengths to prepare interesting classes for our eager little students. We equally thank the Dogtor Foundation, Gdańsk Water Foundation, and Mariusz Sękowski, Timur Zieliński and Wiktoria Malik for the first aid workshops.

Well done all and see you next year!