Homework that gets kids involved in international trade.

In the last 150 years, APL and its predecessors have forged long-lasting relationships with many different kinds of industries. But of the many relationships that have stood the test of time, a recent partnership represents a refreshing step into the future.

In an effort to promote a greater understanding of international trade, APL and the Port of Seattle worked with local schools on an unusual idea. In 1997, APL created a Web site that tracked the travels of an APL container nicknamed the “Boomerang Box.”

Teachers planned their curriculum around the container’s journey, and children from kindergarten through high school in six schools created artwork for the Boomerang Box — painting over 70 “postage stamps” to represent kids’-eye views of the Pacific Northwest, Asia, and trade. During its first year of operation, the Boomerang Box Web site has recorded 90,000 hits, and many classrooms and youth groups around the world are involved.

Young artists at work on designs for the Boomerang Box.

“When we were building our model of Terminal 5, I learned a lot about how a container terminal works,” said 12-year-old Delridge Youth Group member Jennifer Pigott. “I was interested in the people who worked there, and now know what the people who work at Terminal 5 and APL do every day.”

“I had never thought I would have a career in international trade,” continued Trishell Keohavong, also 12. “But it’s exciting to think I could work in my own neighborhood and have a job that reaches around the world.”

High school principal Jim McConnell summed up the project by saying, “As the kids get to see what’s involved in moving a container around, it brings all they’ve learned into focus. They’re so concerned about what they’re going to do when they grow up, and here is a whole world of jobs for them to explore.”

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