The week of June 16th, three hundred fourth and fifth graders from Wilmington Park, Fries, Gulf, Broad and Hawaiian elementary schools embarked on a journey to discover the luxury, history and tragedy of the world’s most famous ocean liner at the California Science Center’s Titanic: The Artifacts Exhibit.

The field trip and transportation, sponsored by Comcast as part of their community outreach “Reading Rewards” program, came about through the vision and effort of Debi Picciolo, Senior Vice-President of Southern California and Patti Rockenwagner, Executive Director of Corporate Communications.

The Titanic exhibit was an exciting introduction to the hands-on educational center. The tour began with a visit to a meticulously recreated interior deck. Students carried boarding passes with the names of actual Titanic voyagers, while other “passengers” in period dress relayed tales from the famous vessel’s brief but captivating history. The Grand Staircase, an impressive reproduction that gave insight to the ship’s true size and magnificence, caused murmurs of “wow,” and “cool” to ripple through the group. Two passenger cabins – one for those traveling first class, one for those crammed into third – starkly illustrated the chasm that separated the wealthy travelers from the less fortunate. None of the students had trouble identifying the accommodations they would have preferred. As the tour concluded, all the students received “Reading Rewards” bookmarks to commemorate their achievements and serve as a happy reminder of the day.

"Comcast was happy to send these Wilmington area elementary school students to the Titanic exhibit,” said Mr. Gary Cox, “I'm sure the exhibit will have a long lasting cultural effect on them and we are pleased to be a part of their experience."