The new classroom barge was built in addition to the first one, located on the barge where the crew lives and works. The old classroom is used to teach about ecology and conservation of the river.
Educational Facilitator, Mike Coyne-Logan from Living Lands and Waters says the new classroom is mainly for high school students to learn about maritime careers.
"Working as a commercial fisherman, working with Fish and Wildlife as a biologist studying the river system, there's just a lot of careers that I think kids, even kids that live in river towns, are unaware of."
The non-profit has a fleet of barges, boats, and equipment for river clean up.
Coyne-Logan says these barges don't make it to the Quad Cities, since the river here is fairly clean. So the East Moline-based organization aims to increase its presence in the Quad Cities with the new floating classroom.
"The more people you can connect to the river, the better, because people protect what they know and love," he said. "To let people know about opportunities that are associated with the river is always a good thing."
The new barge was unveiled earlier this spring, but students won't begin learning there until the fall.
