This story brings a whole new meaning to the word friendship.

In October 2020, the middle schoolers of Rye Junior High, in Rye, New Hampshire, bid a bon voyage to their handmade mini-boat, which set sail off the coast of New Hampshire to who-knows-where.

Measuring only 5.5 feet, the “Rye Riptides” was indeed a small ship. It ran crewless, but carried a bountiful cargo of colorful artwork made by students, along with a GPS tracking device that reported the boat’s location … sometimes.

Cut to 462 days and 8,300 miles later, and what started out as a simple science project became a surprise discovery for some Norwegian sixth graders, and a fun new connection across the Atlantic.

Rye Junior High had partnered with Educational Passages, a nonprofit organization that aims to connect students around the world to the ocean and each other. Once the kit arrived, the kids started building while learning about ocean currents, science and math. However, science teacher Sheila Adams shares that the more artistic, right-brained activities equally found their way into the curriculum. “The students needed to use their writing skills to inform others about their mini-boat project, describe our school and town to people of other languages, just in case, and write requests to get the boat deployed,” she said in a release.

Then the pandemic nearly derailed the whole thing

COVID-19 nearly threatened to knock the Rye Riptides off its course. The boat had been constructed, but not yet decorated, when students were moved to taking class online. Then, there was the matter of launching the boat. Which Cassie Stymiest, Executive Director of Educational Passages, noted was “challenging with all the restrictions in place.”

Luckily, creativity, resourcefulness and a little technology saved the day. Working remotely, each piece of art was done at home, then scanned, printed and made into a collage. Then, Ms. Stymiest connected with the Sea Education Association (SEA), which set the Rye Riptides on its journey.

Would the boat make it to Europe? Rye student Solstice Reed wasn’t so sure. “Honestly, I thought it would sink,” she admitted to the Portsmouth Herald. Considering the boat was cruising the ocean waters during hurricane season, the skepticism was well-founded. During the more tumultuous periods, the GPS signal only came in intermittently. And for a long while, there was nothing but radio silence.

The little boat that did

But then, at long last, on the small Norwegian island of Smøla, the Rye Riptides successfully made it to dry land. Sure, it was a bit dismantled and covered in barnacles, but inside, all the adorable trinkets remained intact. The Smøla students peered with wonder into their bounty of photos, signed facemasks, fall leaves, acorns and state quarters, gifts sent out almost two years ago.

Isn’t your inner child just squealing with delight right now?

The voyage of the small boat went viral in a big way, sailing across social media, and making headlines.

Human connection found its way across the sea in the most wholesome and magical way. It’s really cool to see that educational programs like this exist, impacting both the hearts and minds of young students. Mission, successful.

To help support Educational Passages on even more wholesome adventures just like this one, consider donating here.

This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.

While a bottle of bubbles might seem out of place in a hospital setting, you might be surprised to learn that, for thousands of children around the world born with cleft lip and palate, they can be a helpful tool in comprehensive cleft care. Lilia, who was born with cleft lip and palate in 2020, is one of the many patients who received this care. 

As a toddler, Lilia underwent two surgeries to treat cleft lip and palate with Operation Smile’s surgical program in Puebla, Mexico. Because of Operation Smile’s comprehensive care, it wasn’t long before her personality transformed: Lilia went from a quiet and withdrawn toddler to an exuberant, curious explorer, babbling, expressing herself with a variety of sounds, and engaging with others like any child her age. 

Lilia is now a healthy five-year-old, with the same cheerful attitude and boundless energy. Her progress is the result of care at every level, from surgery to speech therapy to ongoing support at home—but it’s also evidence that small, sustained interventions throughout it all can make a meaningful difference. 

Cleft Conditions: A Global Problem

Since 1982, Operation Smile has provided cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries to more than 500,000 patients worldwide with the help of generous volunteers and donors. Cleft conditions are congenital conditions, meaning they are present at birth. With cleft lip and palate, the lip or the roof of the mouth do not form fully during fetal development. Cleft conditions put children at risk for malnutrition and poor weight gain, since their facial structure can make feeding challenging. But cleft conditions can have an enormous social impact as well: Common difficulties with speech can leave kids socially isolated and unable to meet the same developmental milestones as their peers. 

Surgery is a vital step in treating cleft conditions, but it’s also just one part of a much larger solution. Organizations like Operation Smile emphasize the importance of multi-disciplinary teams that provide comprehensive, long-term care to patients across many years. This approach, which includes oral care, speech therapy, nutritional support, and psychosocial care, not only aids in physical recovery from surgery but also helps children develop the skills and confidence to eat easily, speak clearly, and engage in everyday life. This ensures that each patient receives the full range of support they need to thrive. 

A Playful (and Powerful) Solution

Throughout a patient’s care, simple tools like bubbles can play a meaningful role from start to finish. 

Immediately before surgery, children are often in a new and unfamiliar environment far from home, some of them experiencing a hospital setting for the first time. When care providers or loved ones blow bubbles, it’s a simple yet effective technique: Not only are the children soothed and distracted, the bubbles also help create a sense of joy and playfulness that eases their anxiety. 

In speech therapy, bubbles can take on an even more important role. Blowing bubbles requires controlled airflow, as well as the ability to form a rounded “O” shape with the lips, which are skills that children with cleft conditions may struggle to develop. Practicing these skills with bubbles allows children to gently strengthen their facial muscles, improve breath control, and support the motor skills needed for speech development. Beyond that, blowing bubbles can help kids connect with their parents or providers in a way that’s playful, comforting, and accessible even for very young patients. 

Finally, bubbles often follow patients with cleft conditions home in the “smile bags” that each patient receives when the surgical procedure is finished. Smile bags, which help continue speech therapy outside of the hospital setting, can contain language enrichment booklets, a mirror, oxygen tubing, and bubbles. While regular practice with motor skills can help with physical recovery, small acts of play help as well, giving kids space to simply enjoy themselves and join in on what peers are able to do.

Bubbles at Home and Beyond

Today, because of Operation Smile’s dedication to comprehensive cleft care, Lilia is now able to make friends and speak clearly, all things that could have been difficult or impossible before. Instead of a childhood defined by limitation, Lilia—and others around the world—can look forward to a childhood filled with joy, learning, discovery, friends, and new possibilities.  

CTA: Lilia’s life was changed for the better with the care she received through Operation Smile. Find out how you can make an impact in other children’s lives by visiting operationsmile.org today. 

Sir Paul McCartney, 83, has lived a life that’s full of music, from listening to his father James play dancehall songs on the piano as a child, to joining a skiffle group with John Lennon as a teenager, to becoming the biggest band of all time with The Beatles. Then, he forged a solo career as a member of Wings and under his own name that has yielded more number-one hits than any other songwriter.

McCartney’s music has been a cornerstone of pop culture for over 60 years, but what are the songs that formed his musical taste? Paul recently revealed the ten songs that have “soundtracked my life” to the BBC’s  Vernon Kay on his show Tracks Of My Years, which premieres on May 25 on BBC Sounds and iPlayer.

The full episode hasn’t been released, but the BBC revealed the 10 songs that Paul chose, in no particular order.

Paul McCartney reveals 10 songs that soundtracked his life: 10. John Lennon – “Imagine” 09. The Beach Boys – “God Only Knows” 08. Bob Dylan – “Tambourine Man" 07. Prince – “Kiss” 06. The Human League – “Don’t You Want Me” 05. The Kinks – “You Really Got Me” 04. Elvis -… pic.twitter.com/rUQyERDQnA— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) May 14, 2026

Paul McCartney reveals 10 songs that soundtracked his life: 10. John Lennon – “Imagine” 09. The Beach Boys – “God Only Knows” 08. Bob Dylan – “Tambourine Man" 07. Prince – “Kiss” 06. The Human League – “Don’t You Want Me” 05. The Kinks – “You Really Got Me” 04. Elvis -… pic.twitter.com/rUQyERDQnA

John Lennon – “Imagine” 

In 1971, a year after the breakup of The Beatles, John Lennon released what would become his signature song, a wistful (and slightly acerbic) plea for humanity to envision a world without religion, war, or possessions, and to live in harmony. “When we came to not writing together, I think it was difficult for both of us,” McCartney once said of Lennon. “But, y’know, he still did ‘Imagine.’ He still did one of his best things ever.”

McCartney has routinely played songs written primarily by Lennon in concert, including “A Day in the Life,” “Give Peace a Chance,” and “Help!”, but he won’t touch “Imagine.” “There’s no shame in doing [Lennon’s] songs,” McCartney said. “In fact, I considered doing a major tribute to John…But then people started saying, ‘Why don’t you do ‘Imagine?” And I thought, ‘F***ing hell, Diana Ross does ‘Imagine’.’ They all do ‘Imagine’. That’s when I backed off the whole thing.”

The Beach Boys – “God Only Knows” 

“God Only Knows,” written by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and Tony Asher, appeared on the band’s 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds and is often cited by McCartney as one of his favorites. “I just think it’s a great song—melody, harmonies, words, you know,” Paul said. “I love it, you know. …It’s my favorite Beach Boys song.”

“Brian Wilson sort of proved himself to be like a really amazing composer,” McCartney added. “And I was into chords and harmonies and stuff at that time, and we ended up [in] kind of like a rivalry. [The Beatles would] put a song out and Brian [would] hear it, and then he’d do one, which is nice. [It was] like me and John [Lennon]. You know, you’d kind of try and top each other all the time.”

Bob Dylan – “Tambourine Man” 

Released in 1965 on Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home, an album that merged his earlier folk sound with his growing interest in rock ‘n roll, “Tambourine Man” is one of his first songs to introduce psychedelic imagery. It’s often believed the song is about a drug dealer, but the tambourine man in the story may actually be Bruce Langhorne, a session guitarist, who brought a giant Turkish drum to a session.

McCartney recently ribbed Dylan for not playing the song in his live set. “I’ve been to see a couple of shows of Bob’s, and I couldn’t tell what the song was that he was doing,” McCartney said, according to Music........

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