Kids cut class at sea

Hands shot into the air when a crew member aboard the Coast Guard

cutter Narwhal asked for volunteers to ride the Pacific Ocean waters

on a small, orange powerboat.

Devyn Davis, an eighth-grade student at Ensign Intermediate

School, was passed over, but not for lack of enthusiasm.

Her voice shrieked and her eyes opened wide moments before the

passengers were chosen. She had ridden on the boat, which is stored

inside the 87-foot cutter, during last year’s trip.

“It was so much fun,” Devyn said. “We got to go really fast and

wave to everyone standing on the ship.”

If retention rate is any indication, Ensign physical education

teacher Joe Fuschetti’s field trip is passing with flying colors.

A handful of the students who attended last year’s inaugural ride

aboard the Coast Guard cutter were back for more Wednesday.

Marna Rough, 13, was one of them.

“I wanted to experience it again,” Marna said as she watched the

pilot steer the vessel. “The coolest things are the computer charts.

They seem so easy to work.”

More than 20 students from Ensign were shown the ship’s safety

equipment and search-and-rescue capabilities through interactive

activities and demonstrations.

They learned details about the Narwhal, one of four Coast Guard

cutters tasked with patroling the coastline between South Orange

County and San Luis Obispo. The ship is stationed in Newport Beach,

travels up to 200 miles offshore and has a 10-man crew, said Lt. Luke

Byrd, commanding officer of the ship.

It is one of the vessels that guards the port of Los Angeles and

monitors environmental safety around the harbors. Byrd said homeland

security defense is the primary role of the Coast Guard since the

Sept. 11 attacks.

Field trips and tours are ways to introduce students to their line

of work, Byrd said.

“We always like to get kids interested in what we do,” he said.

On the two-hour trip, students saw a .50-caliber machine gun and

watched crew members navigate the ship. The young passengers took

turns tossing overboard heaving line used to rescue people.

Devyn said she improved on her throw from last year.

Eleven-year-old Skyler Gray grinned after he chucked the line toward

the powerboat filled with his classmates.

“They said if there was a man that needed to be rescued, I’d have

gotten him,” Skyler said.

The field trip was set up through Fuschetti as part of his

fishing, boating and aquatic safety class, funded through a grant

from the Future Fisherman Foundation.

He is involved in the Newport Beach Navy League, a group that

supports maritime service agencies.

Fuschetti said he opened the trip to anyone in the school.

“No one gets to do this,” Fuschetti said. “They’re really lucky.”