Texans Can! Student blogs about U.S. Holocaust Museum Seminar

Students from Oak Cliff, Austin, Ross Avenue, Campus Drive, River Oaks and Carrollton Farmers Branch campusus will be writing about their experiences as part of a week-long program developed by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The summer leadership seminar is called Bringing the Lessons Home: Youth Leadership Conference.





By Steven Yeager
Excitement, anticipation, nervousness. These words can’t even describe the emotions pulsating through my body as I waited for Mr. Leveridge to pick me up. As I gathered my things and said goodbye to my grandmother, he pulled up in a stretched Lincoln Towncar. My father and Kara, my girlfriend, came along for the ride. On the way to the airport I could barely believe I was actually going. It felt like a dream as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

Upon arrival at Love Field I bid farewell to my dad and girlfriend, checked my bags and waited for the rest of the Can! students to arrive. After a short meet and greet we headed for our gate and boarded the plane at around 10:30 and after a short while the plane took off and we were on our way.

After a three hour flight and a short stop in Oklahoma City, our plane finally touched down at the Baltimore International Airport. As we picked up our luggage from baggage claim, we got a chance to get acquainted with other conference students while we waited for the charter bus to tote us to the Catholic University of America. After a short, half-hour trip through wooded countryside we were finally there.

When we got to the University, we had dinner and got to settle in our dorms. My roommate is a Texans Can! student from the charter in Fort Worth. His name is Daniel States. He seems like a chill kid and I can already tell we are going to be good friends. After we got settled and unpacked our things we were called to the lecture hall for a youth leadership meeting.

We participated in an activity where we made a flow chart with the name of our school in the middle and wrote things that defined us as a group around the center. We were to present the chart in front of everyone, and I have to admit I was a little more than nervous. All else aside, I meant what I said to the group and I think I did well.

After we were briefed on the rules and introduced to the staff and chaperones, we got a chance to mingle and hang out on the green. I had a blast talking with the other students and met a few new friends. I got a chance to open up to a few of them and told them about my background. I mentioned I was fluent in ASL (American Sign Language) which intrigued them. They wanted to learn and I’m always willing to teach so I showed them a few signs. Basic things like colors, animals, and certain simple phrases. It started to rain so I taught them one more sign…Goodnight!

My first day here seems like it has gone by in a flash. Although most of the day was consumed by travel, it was fun nonetheless. I’m excited about tomorrow and highly anticipate our trip to the Holocaust Museum. Now it is time for me to hit the sack. I’m not sure I will be able to sleep, but I must get some rest if I’m to be prepared for the next big day of learning and growth.

Day 2
This morning as we walked to the mess hall, thoughts of previous trips to the Dallas Holocaust Museum in Dallas raced through my head. I was trying to reflect on past experiences of Holocaust education to try and set the mood for myself. While we were waiting on the buses, waiting to head to the museum, I noticed a Franciscan friar walking on campus. He stood out, dressed in his black robe, white rope belt and sandals and carrying a laptop, as a sort of shotgun marriage between modernity and antiquity.

This is a theme that I keep noticing as we travel around DC. The classical architecture combined with modern art and sculptures; new and old coming together to make something beautiful. This is directly related to what it is we are doing here. Unless we educate ourselves and others, future generations will not have the same opportunities to witness the beauty of the relationship between new and old. They will never have the chance to learn from history; if that happens it is bound to repeat itself.

When we arrived at the museum, we were quickly briefed and then split into groups for our guided tours. Walking trough the museum is a sobering and very somber experience. As I walked through the museum, I couldn’t help but notice the depressing atmosphere and melancholy tone of the place. It felt as if the victims were in the room with us as we silently marched through the exhibits. The death and desolation presented to us by the exhibits had quite an effect on me.

Just thinking about the atrocities committed during this time almost made me sick. The shocking images, the tattered artifacts, the smell of a thousand musty shoes. These things are some of the remnants of a people who were almost completely wiped out.

After our tour, we loaded back onto the bus and headed for the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Mr. Leveridge and I toured many exhibits including the star spangled banner exhibit and the musical history exhibit. It was a pleasant change of pace, as I have never been to a historical museum of that nature. After touring the museum, we watched a short presentation about the four students of the Greensboro sit-in and the civil rights movement.

After we left the Smithsonian and returned to the campus, we participated in an activity where we rated different individuals and groups level of responsibility in the holocaust on a scale of one to four. It was both interesting and enlightening to hear the different viewpoints of my peers and get a perspective of how others view the Holocaust and those involved.

The activities were very memorable, but I would have to say that the most fun I’ve had so far has been just hanging out and conversing with the other students. The diversity of the body of students attending this conference surprises me. Everyone is so friendly and compassionate. You can tell that all in attendance really do care about our cause, and they really believe that they can make a difference by not only furthering their own education, but by sharing their own experiences with the hopes that others can learn from them.

Every person I meet has their own perspective, and they have certainly made an impression on me. I am confident that when I leave here, that I will take home more than souvenirs, I’ll be “bringing the lessons home.” It is my goal to spread these beliefs and perspectives throughout the community in an infectious enlightenment. Bettering myself, and more importantly those around me.


Posted in the Dallas Morning News


Robert Cervantes, LaDonte McNeal, Avone Huynh and Ashley King, (in the photo at the very top from left to right) are four students from the Ross Avenue campus of Dallas Can Academy visiting Washington this week to see the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. They went with a group of 10 students from Dallas Can schools.


The four are writing journals about the trip and promised to keep us posted. The Holocaust museum paid for the trip for four students, while the Texans Can paid the way for six more. The students were selected after writing essays on why they wanted to make the trip, said Robin Hutchison of Texans Can, the umbrella organization for the Dallas Can charter schools, which target kids at risk of dropping out of school.

"Our students rarely get a chance to travel outside their city, so traveling out of the state to our nation's capitol is a life enhancing experience. Nine of the 10 students have never been on an airplane before," Hutchison said. "It is important for our students to know that they truly can go anywhere they desire and this trip will give them the experience necessary to have the confidence to try something new."



By Avone Huynh
Numerous people only dream of coming to this historic place. It is an absolute honor to be here and acknowledge the landmarks that symbolize and empower our Nation.
When I was six years old, I flew on an international flight to Vietnam. All I could remember was having extreme motion sickness and being very sick during the flight. What a way to remember my first flight!

I felt my anxiety rise as I sat in my seat this time. When the plane lifted off the ground, my fingers became numb. I thought I was going to be sick again. To keep my mind off of my nausea, I watched the clouds float by and saw the amazing bird''s eye view of the sky.

When I got to D.C., I tried to acknowledge everything as much as I could. Everything from the tall trees you do not usually see in Dallas, the eye-catching architecture of the University buildings, and the magnificent artwork in the hall of the conference room. ...

To conclude my first day, I came back into my disappointing dorm room and tried to sleep without a pillow, I did not bring one. Good luck sleeping!!

DAY 2
I’m not accustomed to waking up at 6:00 a.m. on a summer day, but I didn’t hesitate because a whole day of excitement awaited me. Our second day in Washington D. C. included a VIP tour of the Holocaust Memorial Museum following a tour of one of the nine Smithsonian Museums.

While on the bus ride to our destination, I took a moment to acknowledge D.C’s houses and streets. The houses were alive with vivid colors and spontaneous, and the patterns caught my eye. Constitution, Independence, and Jefferson Avenues were a few of the interesting street names I saw along the way. I saw the Capitol Building and the Pentagon in the distance and was immediately intrigued.

We spent two hours touring the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Images of dead corpses burned alive was overpowering. I held back tears throughout the tour. The cruel things one human could do to another are hard to imagine. Propaganda influenced their actions and causes everyone to become vulnerable in this horror, but there’s still no excuse for what I saw. Not to mention, the Holocaust was only in the 20th century, not so long ago from now!

Just as everyone came together to give power to the wrong hand, everyone should have remembered their morals and placed their insecurities aside to come together to override the genocide and promote world peace.

Traumatized after leaving the museum, we walked over to the National Mall. This might sound ridiculous but I was extremely disappointed to find out that the National Mall was not a shopping mall! The American History Museum was a magnificent building and I don’t think there was a single exhibit that I didn’t see.

I spent most of my time at the war exhibits. I wandered around reading about WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam War. So many wars resulted in losing so many lives. Knowing war was our past and is part of our present, I hope it does not become our future. After a day of tours, we had a group discussion and debate about the Holocaust. I loved how everyone was so open minded and sympathetic to the issue. If everyone was more open minded like this, I believe the world would be a better place.


Texans Can! Students Visit Washington, Part 1 Posted in the Oak Cliff People


Six students from the Texans Can! campus in Oak Cliff are visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., this week to learn about human rights. They’re journaling as part of their coursework, and we plan to share their thoughts here each day.



The first entry is from 15-year-old Kyncole Smiley (pictured), who had never been on a plane until she took this trip:

Today was a very extraordinary day, but it didn’t start out that way. I was so nervous about leaving Texas for Washington, D.C., that I was sweating extremely hard. And on top of that, I had never been on a plane before. It was like facing my fears for the first time.

After breakfast, our adult group leaders gathered us all together for a group meeting. They told us all about airplanes and how we would be boarding. After a few encouraging words and group pictures, I gathered enough strength to board the plane.

When on the plane, I began chewing furiously at my gum, because I was told that if I didn’t, my ears would get stopped up. I had like a rush of fear and excitement as we shot straight up. I was still afraid, but when we began to fly smoothly across the sky, I loosened up.

Once in Baltimore, we deplaned quickly and went to get our baggage. We loaded on a bus and rode to D.C. When we arrived, we were warmly welcomed and well fed. We were assigned rooms, and we anxiously unpacked while waiting for an exciting icebreaking activity. After meeting everyone, we had a little more time outside to get to know each other a little better before going to sleep.

Today’s entry is from Robert Cervantes, 16:


Hello. My name is Robert Cervantes. I am visiting Washington. D.C. and participating in the Holocaust Leadership seminar here thanks to Texans Can! Academy. Today we left the dorms to visit the Museum.

It turned out that there were many smart people involved in the Holocaust, but they used their intelligence for the wrong things. These smart people that I learned about used their knowledge to help Adolf Hitler conquer many European countries.

All of the exhibits were very interesting, but they made me feel very sad. Time after time, I saw evidence of so many innocent Jewish lives destroyed because someone did not like them. They tortured millions, including children and infants. The various acts of torture included shooting kids in the face, experiments where doctors sewed twins together, putting live bodies in ice-cold water, and tricking the victims into shower stalls only to gas them to death. These are just a few of the many cruel examples that the racist Nazis did to the Jews.

Then we watched a skit about the Greensboro, N.C., sit-in where four black college students who wanted to be served at a Woolworth’s lunch counter. She led us in a demonstration to emphasize how the four students must have felt while being screamed at, cussed at, food dumped on, and outwardly being disrespected. This was because of the hatred of the color of their skin and because they wanted to be treated equally. The meanness of the crowd wanted the four students to know that they were not welcomed at the counter. I could only imagine their lifestyles each day. Nobody wants to be treated like that. So it is good they put an end to segregation.

Tuesday, July 20

Today was very exciting. Even though it was hot as an oven and I was sweating like a pig, I got to visit the Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Vietnam, and Korean War memorials. Never in a million years would I think I was going to be able to visit and even take pictures of these places.

I am from Dallas, Texas. I am 16 years old and I have never traveled outside Texas. My parents don't have the money to take us on vacations or sightseeing trips. So when Mr. Robinson and Mrs. Liniado invited me to come to Washington D.C., I saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I've got to say the feeling of taking pictures with these wonderful statues and being able to go back home and show my family the places I've been is phenomenal. I hope to be able to experience this again someday, but not only me next time. I want my family to share this experience. That is why I am going to make sure I graduate high school, go to college, and get a good job so I can bring my family because they have worked very hard to survive through emotional and financial problems. I just want to be able to share the experience and take my family to do things that we can't afford now. I feel recommitted to graduating from high school and then college, and taking care of my family.



Today’s entry is from junior Carolina Rangel, 17:

When I was selected for this trip I was nervous because I didn’t know what was going to go on. I was going to back out of the trip, but my sister Celestina told me it was going to be an exciting trip because she had already been to Washington, D.C. I was worried about taking the trip because I didn’t have a suitcase. Ms. Burns, my chaperon, called me and told me to come to the school because the school had collected some supplies for our trip and there was a suitcase.

My grandpa was taking me to the airport and was telling me that I would be okay and to not be nervous about getting on the plane. He told me to pray and everything will be okay.

The first day we went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. When we first arrived, I was so excited to go inside because I wanted to see what it was going to be about. But when we finally went through the metal detectors I was very nervous because of what I was starting to see. First, the museum staff led us to a meeting room to speak to us before going through the exhibit. After they had briefed us about the tour we were split into groups of four. When we started to explore the museum I began to feel sad and depressed because the reality of genocide was right before my eyes. I also felt bad when I saw the shoes of the many victims who were assassinated. It made me feel bad because I imagined, “What if this happened to us?” The Holocaust is an event to always remember no matter what. A quote I will always remember is, “When they came and got us socialists, I didn’t speak because I wasn’t a socialist. When they came and got a Jew, I didn’t speak because I wasn’t a Jew. But when they came for me, there was no one to speak to me.”

The second day our tour group visited different monuments in Washington, D.C. I was so excited to see some of the monuments that up until now I had only studied about in school.

We visited the Jefferson Memorial, FDR Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. But the one that had the most impact on me was the Vietnam Wall Memorial.

As we approached the Vietnam Wall Memorial, the weather was so hot. I was tired because we had visited all the other memorials before we stopped here. I was kind of dreading to visit another site, but when I went into the Vietnam Wall Memorial my attitude changed. One might ask, “Why did it change?” I felt a stirring in my heart when I touched the carved names on the wall of the monument. The names belong to soldiers who have fought for America’s freedom. I realized that these were not just impressions etched into the marble, but these where once lives. Not only a life, but a life that was sacrificed for freedom then, for times to come. I just wonder about these soldiers. Did they have a spouse, children, parents, or grandparents? I also wondered if their family was upset because their lives were taken.

This makes me think about the war today. Now people are still fighting and giving their lives in Iraq. It makes me appreciate how soldiers are risking their freedom for us to be here today. Without this freedom, I wouldn’t be in Washington, D.C., today to express my voice and learning about the awareness that this leadership conference has given me this far. I look forward to the rest of the week.


Dallas South Newswire (Culver Public Relations) reports:
Students from six different Texans Can! Academy campuses will be the first students from Dallas and Austin to participate in a week-long program that was developed by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for students and teachers in Washington, D.C. The ten students range in age from 15 to 18 years and will be part of 150 students from around the nation attending the seminar from Sunday, July 18th through Saturday, July 24th.
They will be participating in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s summer leadership seminar called Bringing the Lessons Home: Holocaust Education for the Community Leadership Program. The week-long seminar is part of the seven week Stephen T. Johns Summer Leadership program that students from the Washington D.C. area experience each year. Arthur R. Brown, the Museum’s Manager of Community Programs, will lead the students and four faculty and staff members in an overview of the Museum’s “Bringing the Lessons Home: Holocaust Education for the Community” program in which students and teachers explore Holocaust history and why it remains relevant today.
The students will lodge at Catholic University of America while attending the classes. As part of the week’s activities they will travel to Quantico, Virginia for a VIP tour of the FBI Academy and DEA Academy, which are not open to general public tours. They will meet with the FBI and DEA instructors for lessons about ethical behavior and leadership development.
The purpose of the seminar is to share the history of the Holocaust and human rights and how it might relate to their personal experiences. Bringing the Lessons Home: Holocaust Education for the Community was launched in 1994 by the Museum. The summer leadership seminars began in 1995. The program has since developed long-term partnerships with over 40 high schools and middle schools that serve the Museum’s local community, our nation’s capital. Through these partnerships, more than 60,000 students, teachers and parents have received special programming and participated in discussions about the importance of accepting different cultures, religions and beliefs.
Several of the students will be making their first trip on an airplane and for some it will also be their first trip out of Texas. The students were selected by their campus principals to participate in the all-expenses paid trip because of their on-going commitment to change their lives. Once they complete the course they will be expected to share what they learned about the importance of accepting diversity and differences in their world.
“We are honored to have our students chosen as the first from Dallas and Austin to attend the Bringing the Lessons Home summer curriculum,” said Richard Marquez, CEO of Texans Can! “This seminar is going to give our students the opportunity to discuss their personal experiences with intolerance from others while also giving them the tools to have positive impacts from those situations.”
The students of Texans Can! have overcome obstacles to complete their education. Each student is enrolled in the school by choice. They realize the value of returning to high school and working to earn their diplomas. The mission of Texans Can! is to provide a second chance for at-risk youth and their families to achieve economic independence and hope for a better life through relationship-based education and training.
Celebrating more than 26 years of serving academically at-risk youth, Texans Can! is a unique network of 10 public schools of choice located in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and San Antonio. Using Texans Can! three core values – discipline in private, rewards in public; rules without relationships breed rebellion; and behavior is based on need – more than 4,700 students a year are getting a second chance at life. For more information, visit www.texanscan.org.
A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires leaders and citizens to promote human dignity, confront hatred, and prevent genocide. Federal support guarantees the Museum’s permanence, and its far reaching educational activities and global outreach are made possible by donors nationwide. For more information, visit www.ushmm.org.
Editor’s note: This essay is from Ashley King, a17 year-old junior at DallasCan! She is attending the “Bringing the Lessons Home: Holocaust Education for the Community Leadership Program. “Filled with exhaustion I forced myself through this hot and tiring day. The things that stood out most to me were the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials. I’ve always wanted to see these two places and getting the chance to see it was like a dream come true. It’s actually over whelming. I remember only dreaming of telling my mom about walking through the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials. It’s amazing! Trying to take it all in and getting this opportunity is a blessing. For our next activity we went to a community that was destroyed after Martin Luther King’s assassination. Among the businesses to survive are Ben’s Chili Bowl and Bus Boy’s and Poets, where Langston Hughes was discovered. We had a couple of students that volunteered to perform on the venue’s stage. I’ve noticed that no matter what happens in a community, it takes the people in it to join together to make change. Returning to the university where we are staying while here, we had a brief meeting about how to build a positive community. We were broken up into four groups and we had to come together with different ways of doing so. I personally feel that not only can you talk about changing a community; you have to do it because actions speak louder than words. If you become a leader and do something I am sure there will be people that will follow and support you.


From LaDonte:
Today we went to the Capitol and it was breathtaking! I have never been to such a graceful, yet strong building; the building was unlike any other I've ever seen. Even the floors were marble. The precisely cut stone, the beyond-extravagant paintings, and all the historical statues took me to a place that I've never even thought of going ... not literally of course.
The rotunda was so flawless; I mean it was so beautiful. When I was told that it took nearly eleven years to build, I literally was flabbergasted. I had no idea how much work they had to put into it.
I've never been to Washington so I've never seen the Capitol building. I was ACTUALLY at the place where our President was inaugurated. ...
I made up my mind that I'm going to come back here in the future with my family. The things I've seen so far, along with all of the people I've met, will be with me for the rest of my life. I'm so grateful that I was given the opportunity to experience the things I've experienced so far; it can only get better.
Near the end of the day we went to the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) Museum. It was a very informative. I found out about quite a few drugs and the effects of all of them. We learned the history of marijuana and opium. I didn't know all the side effects of marijuana; it's crazy how it cripples your mind.
We met a Special Agent who has almost twenty years of service. He was in public affairs at the time but was previously a field agent. We were told how drugs affected the mind and body, and although he didn't respond to some of the questions it was still cool. It seemed to be a great career, but it wouldn't be something I would get into. I really don't like dealing with drugs, and whenever you're dealing with narcotics, it gets life-threateningly dangerous. I'm not interested in having anything to do with drugs like opium and marijuana. I'm looking to go into the medical field.
I met a former Assistant Press Secretary named Dale Petroskey. He served under President Reagan. He also was a president of the National Geographic Society and the National Baseball League.
I've seen a lot of historical sites that most people don't even know about. For instance I read at a display how a young African girl becomes a young woman and it was fascinating to me. They wear this mask with a big forehead and long braids attached to it, and they dance in the streets of the festivals.
I can't wait to see what we do next.


This entry is from sophomore, Knycole Smiley, 15 (front row, fourth from left):
Today was a very exciting day. Everyone in the leadership program got the chance to go to Pentagon City Mall. It is so pretty inside, and everyone couldn’t wait to go shopping after lunch.
When we finished spending money we crossed the street for the Drug Enforcement Association. There they taught us all the dangers of drug abuse. We were told a little — but not too much — about their undercover jobs to catch drug pushers. I learned a lot of things that I didn’t know. I thought that marijuana was harmless, but it actually kills brain cells. All the pictures there were great and really showed that drugs can be addictive, not just in America but all over the world.
After dinner, we did a lesson about responsibility in our evening meeting. Being responsible means handling the consequences that come along with your actions. This means, at some point, you must take the blame and say that it was all your fault. After the meeting, I had a lot of things on my mind. When I go back home to Texas, I’ll be sure that I “take the lessons home.”


This entry is from Avone Huynh, a 17-year-old junior:
If ever there were a day so exhausting, so draining, so fatiguing that God himself would complain, well, today was that kind of day. I was depleted and drenched in sweat!
Today’s theme was memorials. We visited the WWII, Jefferson, FDR, Vietnam, and Korean War Memorials. When I visited the Vietnam Memorial, I felt my heart drop. Thousands of names were carved on the Wall. I ran my fingers over a couple of names and felt their triumph and courage. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers sacrificed their lives to help aid in the Vietnam War. I had sincere empathy for the family members of the deceased because I, too, had someone sacrifice their life in the war. My grandfather, Doss Paigle, a French general, died in the war. I never met my grandfather, but I remember my grandmother telling me countless stories about his bravery and integrity.
After we left the Vietnam Memorial, I scurried around like a maniac. I wanted to see every bit of scenery, artifacts, and memorials as I could. I was an enthusiastic tourist! The next day, we went to the Capitol Building. Boy, was I excited! I couldn’t wait to see the Rotunda after reading Dan Brown’s novel, The Lost Symbol. I was very intrigued by the beautiful paintings and sculptures. I managed to capture a magnificent photo of myself with an amazing view of the Capitol. There were clouds flowing overhead.
On Thursday, I woke up in a cheerful mood because we were going to Quantico. The FBI Academy is rarely visited and toured by regular civilians. Being able to tour the Academy made me feel special. I felt almost on the same level as Nicolas Cage or Johnny Depp, who has visited the site once before. The FBI Academy has opened my eyes to new things. I am no longer afraid to push the limits. “The more you change the way you look, the more you will change.” That quote pierces deeply within my heart and opened the cage door. I want to protect our rights to be informed.