Discovering Amistad has scheduled a busy year of educational activities for the schooner in ports along the state’s coastline.

The ship is slated to be in New London for the entire month of May as it offers its extensive educational program to school groups across the region. Similar programs are planned for the spring and fall in Bridgeport, New Haven and other cities, as well as two-week-long high school student cruises this summer, according to Len Miller of Essex, the chairman of Discovering Amistad.

As the organization works to get the schooner back on solid footing and repair its reputation following the financial problems of Amistad America, its former owner, a new financial challenge looms.

State Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, has introduced a bill with the backing of other legislators in the current General Assembly session that would take a portion of the proposed $300,000 in state funding for the ship in 2017-18 and use it to repay the Connecticut creditors of the Amistad America, which are owed an estimated at $250,000.

Miller has said the state funding is critical for his new group until it can attract private funding from businesses and foundations, which he said this week it is now seeking. But in order to do that, he said, Discovering Amistad must show the schooner is back in operation and offering quality educational programs.

That is why he said this spring and summer are very important for the nonprofit organization.

“The best way to raise money will be for schools to talk to other schools about us. We need to say to companies ‘here are some school principals and superintendents you can call about us,’” said Miller, who founded the Stamford-based Soundwaters schooner and marine education program 27 years ago.

“The money will follow the education,” he said.

Although he said Discovering Amistad has the reputation of “the old organization” working against it, it still has had some initial success raising money.

As for Urban’s bill, he said his organization is concerned about it and is formulating its position. He said Discovering Amistad plans to speak at any hearings in Hartford on the bill.

Miller said the ship, which is spending the winter at Mystic Seaport, is in good condition after undergoing repairs and maintenance that were not done by Amistad America. It also now will be able to fly all of its sails. Coincidentally, the Seaport is one of the Amistad America creditors, being owed about $45,000.

In March, Miller said the ship will go on some training cruises and then head to New Haven for the month of April. It will spend May in New London and then head to Bridgeport. It is expected to be back in the Whaling City this fall for more school programs.

Miller said the curriculum developed for the educational programs is much different than the one presented by Amistad America, which focused on the story of the original schooner, the would-be slaves aboard the ship and their successful fight for freedom aided by abolitionists in 1839. While Discovering Amistad will tell that story, Miller said, it will spend more time relating that story to current topics involving freedom, social justice, equality and race relations.

There will be opportunities for schools to sign up for four, eight and 12 lessons in which Discovering Amistad educators will present the lessons in each school. Each program includes a sail aboard the ship. As for cost, Miller said a four-lesson program will cost $3,400 a classroom. Partial subsidies will be available to schools that do not have money in their budget for such activities.

In the summer, the ship will host two or three two-week cruises with a dozen or so high school sophomore and juniors each trip. In addition to learning how to sail and participating in Amistad educational activities, they will visit sites such as the Statue of Liberty and South Street Seaport in New York City and colleges such as Yale University.

“It should be an incredible experience for these kids,” Miller said.

He said he expects the educational programs will be at capacity in the fall as word spreads about the new programs. He said this will help the organization raise the money to become more self-sufficient.

The group also is creating a Freedom Institute, which will offer programs for adults in different cities.

“This is exciting. A lot of what we’re talking about in the schools needs to be talked about by adults, as well. Especially in these times,” he said.

Amistad America, formed in 1998, lost its nonprofit status in 2012 for failing to file three years of tax returns. Nevertheless, the state continued to make annual $360,000 payments to the organization, which fell deeper and deeper into debt, until finally freezing funding for the 2014-15 fiscal year as controversy over the organization’s lack of fiscal accountability intensified. The organization had provided little documentation about how it was spending state funding.

Following stories by The Day about how Amistad America had spent the $9 million in state funding and calls for an investigation by Urban, the state finally conducted an audit, seized the ship in the summer of 2014 and sold it to Discovering Amistad for $315,000. The state then provided $957,000 to Discovering Amistad so it could purchase and repair the ship. There was no money left from the sale to repay the creditors.

j.wojtas@theday.com