With energetic anticipation to start, and weary wonderment at close, Foothill 4th graders paraded home from their “calling to the sea” on April 16th, eager to share their tales.
The “Tall Ships” field trip marks a proud moment for a FCDS fourth-grade class. The adventure offers students insights into ocean lore, history, and hardship as students replicate a sailor’s journey aboard a sailing vessel of years past.
The young sailors trekked from the San Diego train station to dockside on Friday, April 15th, hefting a bag similar to a seaman’s duffel, filled with only essentials: sleeping bag, jacket, one change of clothing in case clothes became wet, eating utensils, bowl and cup. This was no glamour trip; they were simulating the life of a rustic sailor -- no electronics or watches, no pajamas, no toothbrush or hairbrush, not even a pillow. Students unrolled their sleeping bags on the wooden deck at the San Diego Maritime Museum’s "Star of India" -- for the little time they were given to sleep. They were assigned to teams of four or five, each with a duty (i.e. the galley team prepared food) and a specific time to awake for an hour dogwatch in the dark of the night. On board were actor/historians dressed in character, who made students feel like they were working immigrants sailing from Europe in 1870's. They learned how a ship was sailed, and how sailors lived. Beneath soaring masts, the green-hand sailors helped hoist sails and cargo, tie knots, and scrub decks, in addition to singing sea chanteys and swinging aloft in a boatswain chair.
In a dramatic conclusion to the 2-day adventure, students sailed away from dock on a second ship Californian for a two-hour cruise Saturday morning.
Dirty, tired, enervated, yet more seasoned as sailors, the fourth graders retraced steps to the train station Saturday noon, eager for home -- to tell their tales, savor a warm shower, don cozy pajamas, brush teeth and hair, and plump a now-treasured pillow. Ah, the dreams that will come, thanks to this FCDS venture into history!
