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'I didn't know anything about this': Why teaching the Oklahoma City bombing is important

will rogers high school oklahoma city bombing okc
Posted at 6:21 AM, Apr 19, 2024
and last updated 2024-04-19 11:46:47-04

TULSA, Okla. — April 19 marks 29 years since the worst domestic terrorist attack in United States history struck the heart of our state.

WATCH: Memorial ceremony to honor victims

The Oklahoma City bombing at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killed 168 people, including 19 children, and injured 680.

Now, it's a day many Oklahomans may be too young to remember — or it happened before they were born.

2 News visited Will Rogers High School to see how they're learning about the bombing.

"When they come in, I ask [my students], 'How many you know about the Oklahoma City bombing?'" history teacher Jo Glenn told us. "And if I get one through all my classes, I'm surprised."

"I did not hear anything of it or know anything about this," said freshman Diego Hernandez-Perez.

Glenn taught a class of ninth-graders on April 18, the day before the anniversary, about the bombing. It's part of a one-semester course on Oklahoma history. The students watched the harrowing videos from that fateful morning and interviews — while going through the timeline and all the background information.

They also crafted their own survivor trees.

will rogers high school oklahoma city bombing okc
Freshmen at Will Rogers High School learn about the Oklahoma City bombing.

The class made Hernandez-Perez think.

"As quick as one minute, it ruined many people's lives," he said. "Hundreds of people lost loved ones. Others lost children and generations of their families. And, others have traumatic effects and maybe, with this now, they can't really live past it or they live in fear that something else may happen again."

It's not just about learning numbers and dates. It's also how these students carry that lesson in their own lives.

"You just gotta start valuing, like, the smaller stuff because there's many children that lost their lives that day," said Hernandez-Perez, "and just being able to wake up and still be here is just a gift that I appreciate and learned to value."

The remembrance ceremony in Oklahoma City starts at 8:45 a.m. Watch on 2 News Oklahoma's streaming apps.


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