LYNN — For the second year in a row, high-school students in the city built and launched a boat from scratch.
Lynn English students Cole Kiiza, Jayden Pagan, Jaleel Khamis, Alex Gomez, and Anthony Gonzalez launched a boat they built with their own hands in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday.
Brickyard Collaborative and Community Boat Building came together for the second year to make the project happen as a way to honor the veterans.
“We had some fun and we got a lot of work done while having that fun. We had a mission and we made sure we completed that mission,” Pagan said.
Among the invited guests was Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker, who called the event a success for the community.
“This is such a metaphor for what’s great about Lynn,” Tucker said. “Great community, wonderful folks, hardworking. This is the future of Lynn right here.”
Mayor Jared Nicholson congratulated the students on behalf of the city.
“As a veteran in the City of Lynn I’m honored to be here today. The dedication, the commitment of these young men behind me is unbelievable and unparalleled,” City Councilor-at-Large Nicole McClain, a veteran, said.
The five students walked the boat to the water together, where they said a few words, opened a celebratory bottle of champagne, and splashed some of it on the bow of the boat.
Retired Brig. Gen. and Deputy Secretary of the Executive Office of Veterans’ Services Andrea Gayle-Bennett, who arrived after the boat hit the water, told the crowd that it was amazing for this launch to happen on Women Veterans Day.
