19 August 2013

Week 6, part three, going aboard a U.S Navy destroyer and making glow stick lanterns - OR, How I finished my internship.

Display ship Barry
Seeing as the boys were taken on board the Barry last week, me and some of the other interns had the opportunity to look inside this week, with the girls. The ship was a US Navy destroyer, and from 1954 to 1982 Barry toured the Caribbean, Atlantic and Mediterranean. The ship played a part in both the Vietnam War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. It's far narrower below deck than you'd think, for a ship of such a large size. I don't usually get claustrophobic, but I did feel conscious of how little space there was as climbed through hatches and up again via small steps. If I felt like that at 5'2, what must it have been like for taller sailors? I suppose they had more pressing matters to adjust to, like other ships firing on them. It didn't help that we were also with around twenty 8-12 year olds, and so every time a tiny 8 year old climbs down a set of metal stairs you're wondering theoretically how quickly you could move in such an enclosed space to catch them.
 
That being said, being able to say that I've been onboard a US retired destroyer ship is very cool. (Well actually, it was boiling on the top deck but much cooler below...) The fact that at several points in its life hundreds of men lived and worked on that ship is incredible, it's like physically standing on a piece of history, or rather, a vessel which made history wherever it went.
 
Just found this, the Barry has its own Wikipedia page! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Barry_(DD-933

Adding liquid glow sticks into empty water bottles to make glow stick lanterns!

As an almost complete juxtaposition to the previous week, Girls' camp (Women Make History camp) actually left us with enough space to breath and the ability to think. Though the girls were talkative, they were generally more responsive than the boys and did not embody the whole "I'm going to start a fight every 5 minutes" mentality. Of course, only a minority of the boys did this, but they were a loud and persistent minority.

Anyway, the point is, the girls were able to have a lot more fun. Seeing as they covered more lesson material, and completed all of their craft activities on time, they were able to have a mini-disco at the end of the day. This was made possible by turning off all of the lights in the gallery that we were working in, and using the "water effects" lighting (literally, there were lights for the permanent Cold War exhibit which gave the effect of being underwater). Who would have thought that the middle of a Cold War exhibit, with replica submarine hull nearby, could make such a good dance party backdrop.

I've never seen lanterns made with glow sticks before, but now the sight of 50 or 60 blurry shapes, dancing to Taylor Swift/ One Direction, and clutching illuminated water bottles is burned into my mind. If this is all sounding slightly bizarre, then welcome to summer camp at the museum!

It's amazing what you can make children (and interns) do if promised a glow stick dance party. Regardless, I think the kids at both summer camps had a great time. Whether they were earning points for their "battalion" (complete with self-made banners), cheering when their egg survived its parachute-drop, or generally going mental when it came to collecting prizes at the end of the week. The prize collecting (or rather,  prize purchasing using paper money earned during the camp) involved me and the other interns "banking" a system of paper money, called "Bunny bucks" and trying to solve monetary disputes between 9 year olds...

This is the US Navy's own official article on the camps - http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=75994

From sitting and eating lunch in the park (whilst the children scared us silly by climbing on and over old model cannons and submarine sails, never mind trees...) to attempting to explain to confused visitors what exactly was going on in the museum, these camps were the highlight of my time at the Navy Yard. Weeks of preparing folders for the students, lesson plans, activity instructions and craft material were finally realised, and I have my supervisors as well as the other interns to thank for that. A few interns had to leave before the camps started, or part way through (to those of you that missed Girls' camp - it was awesome) but all of us got to see the fulfilment of their individual and collaboration projects.

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