Sophomore reporter, Sara Diaz, wrote this story.
Thank you to the staff at Intrepid Museum for hosting our students and providing them with an immersive learning experience.
On Friday, October 16, sophomore students at WHSAD took an exciting educational trip to the Intrepid Museum in Manhattan. Hosted by Ms. Como, our Global History teacher, the trip gave students an up-close look at the military and maritime history of the famous aircraft carrier, the USS Intrepid, which served them in World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War.
Students started off their journey by looking at a 1:40 scale model of the USS intrepid made completely out of legos. The impressive model measured 22 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 4 ½ feet tall, weighing in at over 550 pounds, with approximately 250,000 pieces. Looking at this detailed replica gave a clear sense of the carrier’s design before stepping deeper into the actual ship.
Moving from the display area into the main ship, students navigated through specialized watertight doorways, ducking through lower compartments, as our tour guide introduced the history of the vessel. We learned that an aircraft like the intrepid was essentially a mobile airport, where planes were able to take off from the front and land on the back (shown on the lego model). It also operated as what you would call, a floating “city at sea” designed to support thousands of crew members for a long period of time. Our tour guide had mentioned details about the ship’s service during World War II, when it deployed to the pacific ocean to engage enemy naval forces. We discussed how the rise of wartime industrial manufacturing played a major role in pulling the United States out of the Great Depression. The tour guide mentioned some of the many problems they faced, and how they solved it. Lastly, we learnt that every American pilot would have to carry around small documents that featured the American flag and a message translated into several different languages. The message asked if the person could help them (the pilot) if they are ever in danger, as they will be rewarded.
This field trip provided WHSAD students with a hands-on look at history, turning lessons taught in a classroom into a memorable experience.