Keota ninth and tenth-grade GEAR UP students recently participated in a virtual tour of the Holocaust and Human Rights Museum in Dallas, Tx. The tour began with an introduction of the tour guides and a brief talk about the history and mission of the Dallas Holocaust Museum. The Museum’s mission is to teach the history of the Holocaust and advance human rights to combat prejudice, hatred, and indifference. They then lead students through exhibits in the Holocaust/Shoah Wing, showing them artifacts from the event. GEAR UP students viewed a boxcar used to transport Jews from Belgium to the camps and heard about how the coarse blue-grey striped uniforms with badges and serial numbers replaced humans’ names. Guides concluded the tour by encouraging students to consider how they can make a change in the world. At the end of the virtual tour, students were able to ask questions about the Museum and artifacts. The Museum gave each student a free pass for them and two family members to tour the Museum in person.
The field trip was sponsored by Eastern Oklahoma State College GEAR UP. Eastern received a $17 million federal GEAR UP grant in 2017 and will serve over 3,000 students in 39 area schools for seven years.
