OKC Memorial Launches Statewide 'Journey of Hope' Tour To Teach Lessons From April 19 Bombing

The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum is beginning a new journey to share the story of April 19th.

Curators and workers from the museum will travel to all 77 counties in honor of 30 years since that day of darkness.

They call it Journey of Hope, making their first stop at Deer Creek Middle School. Organizers of this traveling museum are teaching lessons learned from April 19th.

Hundreds of students gathered inside their middle school’s auditorium to learn about the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

Students listened closely, to Cheryl Baldwin Taylor, a former Deer Creek teacher who volunteered after the bombing- share her story of how her students created poetry books for first responders … a small gesture that made a major impact.

“We laid poetry books on every cot,” said Baldwin Taylor. “All the letters began pouring in; thank you for taking care of my husband while he was there. The impact the 7th graders had was wonderful.”

For eighth-grader Layla Yeung, today’s lesson gave her hope that she could make an impact as students did 30 years ago.

“You think I am too young? I am only in middle school, and I can’t do much. But you hear about something like that, and you can do that,” said Yeung.

The traveling museum is more than a reminder of the past. It’s a call to action for future generations.

Today, students learned about the Oklahoma Standard, and to symbolize resilience, they helped plant a survivor tree sapling right out front of their school.