History teacher Mike Davey displays an assortment of decorations that tell not only about history but also his personal life. From a mortar shell to The Beatles album, his room brings learning history alive for his students.

“Students usually ask about the mortar shell,” Davey said. “It’s a Chinese mortar shell casing, probably from the Korean war.” Davey got it from a student who purchased it from an military surplus store.

But not all of Davey’s displays play well with students.

“Students do like my [The] Beatles ‘Abbey Road’ album; however, they don’t like the article I have on my wall about the Giants’ World Series collapse [in 2002],” said Davey, an avid Dodger and A’s fan and a declared Giants hater.

In a bright red bottle and yellow logo, a history-pun drink that makes fun of old Soviet propaganda sits on top of Davey’s VCR. According to Davey, it is called Leninade, a fusion of the two words “lemonade” and “Lenin,” which is a reference of Russian Marxist Vladimir Lenin. He received the gift from a student, but does not know where the student got it.

All around room 703, Davey has a colorful atmosphere filled with the subject he is passionate about and other hobbies of his. There are posters of different historic figures such as Ghandi, as well as pictures of students he has coached in boys’ and girls’ basketball at the school for more than 17 years.

“I loved being in Mr. Davey’s class,” said junior Sarika Kathuria, a former student. “You always felt like you were surrounded by history and it made you want to learn about the things you saw. It made the experience of learning history come to life.”