The Mobile Museum of Tolerance has been visiting Fresno Unified high schools, leading innovative education workshops designed to combat hate and intolerance.

Last week, the traveling museum parked its van, equipped with large screens, surround sound and rows of seats, inside Roosevelt High School. Facilitators welcomed students, sharing immersive presentations on the Civil Rights Movement, the Holocaust, and battling online hate.

“Community is a huge part of it… At the end of the day we’re all human beings,” said Eva Geisler, an educator with the Museum of Tolerance. “If we let down our prejudice and break our biases, then we’ll realize that we have way more in common with each other than we have different, and that’s how we can stay strong together.”

The workshops, shown to schools across the state, use powerful lessons from history to teach attendees tolerance, combat antisemitism and hate, and inspire open and honest conversations with people of all backgrounds.

Now, the museum is inviting members of the community to visit and experience the “classroom on wheels” Thursday night.

“We are grateful to the Mobile Museum of Tolerance for providing our community with this meaningful opportunity to engage in powerful lessons that inspire empathy,” said Superintendent Misty Her. “Experiences like this help us build stronger, more inclusive communities.”

The museum will be open to the public 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Browning Ave. parking lot at Bullard High School.

Presentations Foster Community and Uplift Voices

Educators walk students through major historical events, focusing on the power of community and using one’s voices to drive change.

These presentations provide good and insightful information, said social science teacher Ofelia Jimenez, who emphasizes the importance of trusted sources in class.

Additionally, it is relevant to what is being taught in class. For example, Jimenez’s U.S. history students are learning about the Jim Crow era. The museum visit provided a foundation for future lessons about the Civil Rights Movement.

During the presentation, one slide encouraged students to ask themselves, “What lessons can we take from the Civil Rights Movement?”

One student replied, “Our voices matter.”

Jimenez hopes that the presentation will stick with students, building off knowledge they already have and fostering a sense of community.

“We help (students) build this safe space where they realize that they can actually talk about things that are happening,” Geisler said. “They can talk about how they’re feeling and so it opens it up to them and they realize that this is a place where they are seen and they are heard. They share their thoughts. And they walk away from it feeling better about it.”

Presentations Coincide With Fresno Unified Student Protests

One of the most important things the museum can do is remind students that their voice matters, according to Geisler.

Coincidentally, the presentations lined up with an outpouring of student-led protests. The presentations are relevant to students’ lives, Jimenez said, referring to an anti-ICE walk-out by hundreds of Roosevelt students.

“It wasn’t planned, but goes with what young people are doing,” she said of the Museum of Tolerance being on campus during a time of heightened student activism.

Midday Friday, hundreds of students left campus and marched two-and-a-half miles to Fresno City Hall in protest of ICE’s aggressive immigration enforcement. Fresno Unified students have been leading anti-ICE protests throughout February.

Related Story: Hundreds of Roosevelt High Students March to City Hall in Protest of ICE

Students protesting emphasized the importance of community and using their voice — main points discussed by museum educators.

One student, Sofia Suarez, felt she was protesting for future generations, similarly to how past generations protested for rights guaranteed today.

“It’s important to know where they’re coming from,” Geisler said. “They can see that others protested non-violently, peacefully. They can see others that protested and marched in their communities and that made a difference. Then that’s hopefully going to inspire them to do more.”