“They’re all holding their American Girl Dolls, and they’re like, ‘A girl’s driving?’ So the leader of the group came up to me when we were sitting in the lock and said: ‘They are surprised that there’s a female captain. Would you mind, at the end of the tour, spending some time with them and talking with them?’ I answered all the questions they had. They were ages 7 to 12, but they were like: ‘Whoa, you drive this boat? And you get to watch fireworks all the time?’ It’s interesting to see them get the spark in their mind to think, ‘I can do this too.’”