Students walk through an exhibit of artifacts and memorabilia researched and compiled by students at Bishop Dunne Catholic School in honor of the life of President John F. Kennedy.
By Michael Gresham
The Texas Catholic
With a handful of alumni from the 1960s on hand, Bishop Dunne Catholic School students and administrators unveiled an exhibit Nov. 15 commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The exhibit, which is on display in the school’s library, was the result of a month-long project conducted by students last spring.
“At that time, we had a semester course that focused on the 1960s,” said history teacher Michael Alfers, who added that the idea for using that class to produce the exhibit was developed by Bishop Dunne assistant librarian Katie Tally. “We knew that we had some alumni who were in downtown Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, and we wanted to acknowledge that Bishop Dunne presence on the anniversary of that historic day.”
Students broke into different groups with each assigned a particular aspect of JFK’s presidency.
“In class, we had talked about Kennedy’s presidency and the impact his assassination had on the nation, but with this project we wanted our students to get a better understanding of these events,” Alfers said. “I think taking each aspect in greater detail gave them a closer connection to the events of that day.”
Bishop Dunne junior Luke Athens said his participation in the project helped give him greater insight into Dallas and the nation in the 1960s.
“I think we gained a new perspective on the Kennedy assassination,” Athens said. “Growing up in Dallas, you know about it, but I think learning more about the actual events gave us greater insight as to why it happened, the various conspiracy theories and the significance of the date with this being the 50th anniversary.”
For Bishop Dunne senior Kayla Evans, seeing the completed project fueled a sense of accomplishment.
“I was so excited when I saw the boards,” Evans said. “Since we did all this work last semester, seeing our finished product now just brought back a lot of memories and made me feel really good about what we’ve done. I’m very proud of it.”
