Located across from Union Station in downtown Kansas City, Mo., is the World War I Museum. Many Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy (HBHA) students have seen the towering Liberty Memorial that contributes to the city’s skyline, but very few had actually explored the museum to which it is attached. On Feb 26, HBHA upperclassmen traveled to the museum with their United States History classes.
United States History and Advanced Placement United States History are the two history courses offered this year for HBHA upperclassmen. History teachers Dr. Edna Levy and R. Gina Renee are the teachers of these classes. Levy organized the field trip and reflected, “I was very pleased with how many students were engaged with the exhibits — asking questions of Rick, the excellent docent who led our group, and looking carefully at the artifacts themselves. We were there for over two hours — walking and listening and looking — and no one once whined about tired feet.”
The field trip was perfectly timed, as both classes just recently finished studying about World War I. At the museum, the students watched a fascinating short film about the causes of the war and then followed a helpful docent through the exhibits. The museum is filled with hundreds of artifacts including planes, machine guns, and uniforms from the U.S. and foreign nations that fought in the war. There is also a large display of propaganda war posters and a model of a German trench.
When asked about his thoughts on the field trip, junior Sam Matsil said, “It was a really cool interactive way to learn history instead of sitting in the classroom.”
Senior David Liebschutz concurred with Matsil and commented, “It was great to see artifacts from the war and learn about things we had touched on in class that are important to our country’s history.”
The upperclassmen also had the opportunity to climb to the top of the Liberty Memorial tower and see a beautiful view of Kansas City. The fieldtrip was a great way to combine the two history classes and interactively learn about World War I.
