On April 27, 115 sophomores from the Davis’ humanities class visited the U.S.S. Iowa in San Pedro. This is the first year that their humanities class went on a field trip to the ship; history teacher Nick Doom’s AP U.S. History classes went on a tour of the ship last year. The trip corresponded with what the humanities class had been learning about in class.

“We had finished WW II, and in March we had a guest speaker named Jean Bruce Poole from the Women’s Royal Navy, who had worked on battleship locations,” Mrs. Davis said. “Mr. Davis realized that the U.S.S. Iowa would accommodate our classes of 115 students and that the trip would tie into the Cold War.”

The U.S.S. Iowa had been the flagship of the U.S. battleship fleet and students had the chance to visit and walk around with a tour guide for two hours, from the decks to the captain’s cabin and exhibits. Students learned about the ship’s rich history, ranging from the more recent accident inside the ship in April 1989 to the way that special accommodations were made for President Roosevelt due to his wheelchair.

“I had high expectations for it because Mr. Davis had given us background information on it before we went,” said sophomore Eunice Ramilo. “We got a great tour and learned about an unfortunate incident that happened on the ship when the crew members were supposed to fire a missile, but instead of it going out of the ship, it blew up inside and 47 of 77 crew members died, and they made a memorial for the people who were killed.”

After spending two hours exploring the ship and exhibits with their tour guides, students had lunch at nearby Point Fermin Park.