We’re sometimes asked why the Pacific Training Centre’s logo is a pictorial of a sailboat. Fair question. After all, we don’t teach sailing skills. So what does a nautical vessel have to do with blindness skills training? There are several reasons we chose to go this route.
First, sailboats are awesome and fun, just like our students and staff.
Secondly, the sailboat acknowledges where we work and play, which is on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. For those who may not be aware, we are completely surrounded by water here so nautical references are ingrained in the local culture.
The third reason, however, is the most important one. We identify with the sailboat because people associate terms like discovery, exploration, and freedom with them. We feel that it is these same terms that describe the journey taken by each of our students. They set a course to discover their abilities, explore all they can accomplish, and achieve freedoms that they might not have otherwise thought possible.
This is also why each student receives a small nautical bell upon graduation. The bell is a reminder that all blind people have the right to freedom and can access those freedoms with the proper training.
