BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — The bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City happened nearly 31 years ago. Most freshmen at Broken Arrow are only 15 years old.
"So I actually hadn't learned a lot about it," BA freshman Rowan Bippus said.
The BA Freshman Academy was the first stop for the OKC National Memorial and Museum's "Journey of Hope."
"Kids being the future, I think imparting lessons learned from April 19 is important," Chris Fleming, Chairman of the OKC Memorial and Museum Board of Trustees, said. "Not just the story of the event, but the story of the response."
Students like Bippus are going through two phases of the program. First, learning what happened on that tragic day.
"I got a wave of emotion," Bippus said. "Like I felt so much grief for their families, and the people who survived and the people who had been involved in it. I just felt horrible knowing they had to go through that."
Susan Winchester knows that all too well. She lost her sister, Doctor Peggy Clark, in the attack.
"She was supposed to be doing a program in Stillwater," Winchester said. "Stopped by her office to pick up some things she had forgotten, and was there at the wrong time."
She says educating the youth is more important now than ever.
"They weren't here in 1995, so it's not a story they were familiar with at all, but it's such an integral part of Oklahoma. Part of the nation itself," Winchester said. "And we wanted to continue that story to let them know what happened."
From there, students engaged in what the group calls "Better Conversations." Led by prompts from the museum, kids answered tough questions and shared opinions with one another. All centered on the principles of the Oklahoma Standard.
"I feel like a lot of kids that might not have wanted to engage, or talk, were able to speak what they were feeling," Bippus said. "And I was really glad we were able to pay attention to them and listen to what they had to say."
"The kids need to know that their opinions are valued and that they can share them, and that they can be accepted," Winchester added.
2025 marked 30 years since the bombing at the Murrah Building. To learn more about our coverage, you can see that here.
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