Students interested in learning about Kansas history went on a field trip to Haskell University, a historic Native American college in Lawrence, and the Brown v. Board museum in Topeka on Saturday, March 5.

Many of the students who attended found the trip very educational and feel they benefitted immensely.

“The pictures and artifacts were really interesting,” Mackenzie Smith, sophomore, said.

The students learned a significant amount about Native American history in Kansas.

“I learned that in early Native American colleges there was a very high death rate,” Lily Gray, sophomore, said.

While some students were practically experts on Haskell University and Brown v. Board before the trip, the majority of students who attended did not know much about them, Haskell in particular.

“There were a lot things I didn’t know about my own state’s Native American culture. I knew nothing about Haskell,” Gray said.

Even students who knew a lot about the history of the locations still learned plenty of interesting things.

“I learned at the Brown v. Board Museum that test scores at integrated schools were higher than those at segregated schools,” Smith said.

Many students learned things that suprised them.

“Haskell University had a cemetery behind their school where they would bury students that had died,” Gray said.

Kim Wahaus, social studies teacher, and Candy Birch, assistant principal, sponsored the trip.

“I’m really glad I went because I’ve experienced some things [on this trip] that I never would have without visiting,” Smith said.