SANTA ANA : Principal for a Day Says All Is Shipshape

His job is to prepare his men for war. But Navy Capt. Joe Lee Frank, skipper of the missile cruiser Antietam, showed Tuesday there is a gentle side to the military.

Frank served as principal of MacArthur Fundamental Intermediate School as part of a countywide observance, Principal for a Day. The program is intended to provide community and business leaders a front-seat view of public education.

After visiting classrooms and talking to teachers and students, Frank said there is not much difference between a Navy ship captain and school principal.

“In a sense, I’m an educator,” said Frank, 48, who commands the 400-member crew of the Antietam, normally assigned to patrol the Pacific Ocean, but now in dock for repairs in Long Beach.

“We spent 60% of our time in training,” he said. “We offer courses for college credits and teach our men skills they could use after the Navy.”

Ten of the ship’s crew members came to the school with Frank. They spoke before science, math and computer classes. In one eighth-grade science class, two crew members demonstrated firefighting techniques. In another class, students learned how missiles are launched.

“It’s great,” said Omar Gutierrez, 13, an eighth-grader. “We got to find out how fun it will be in the Navy.”

MacArthur Principal Jane Russo said the school has a partnership with the Antietam since the Persian Gulf War in 1991, when students exchanged letters with crew members.

In 1992 and ‘93, several MacArthur students visited the docked ship, and crew members have returned the visit, Russo said.

“He has brought the world to our school,” Russo said of Frank. “Whenever he pulls a map and say, ‘I’ve been there,’ the students are impressed.”