New Initiative Will Allow Oklahoma Students To Tour Bombing Memorial

Oklahoma City 9th-graders are the focus of a new initiative intended to pay big dividends in the future.

On Monday the Oklahoma City National Memorial unveiled details of the program “Called 2 Change”. It’s called that because they hope this experience will change the perspective of these students, and, in turn, inspire them to make positive change in their communities.

It's a pretty simple idea, really state law already requires that all 9th graders be taught about the Murrah building bombing, as part of the required Oklahoma history class.

Under this program, with the help of corporate donations, all 9th graders in Oklahoma City public schools will visit the memorial and tour the museum.

“Learn the lessons from what happened 21 years ago and how they're relevant to today, and understand how they can be called to change in their own life and their own school environment,” said Kari Watkins with the OKC National Memorial.

“In addition to learning about the history and seeing the videos and the artifacts from the actual event, there are also some really great interactive exhibits where the kids can learn,” Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent, Aurora Lora.

Those interactive exhibits will give students hands-on experience with forensics and also with structural engineering in the museum's Uncover-Discover Lab.

So, “Called 2 Change” is a learning initiative, but it's also a way to make sure that this story that is so central to what Oklahoma City is today is not lost. This is about keeping the story relevant for a generation that wasn't born on April 19, 1995.