Houston, Mo. — population 2,080 — in South Central Missouri is notable as the birthplace of the circus performer Emmett Kelly.

From April 23 through May 4, Houston High School will be the site of a pilot education program associated with the “Lest We Forget” Holocaust awareness project. Along with Smith Cotton High School in Sedalia, students in Houston will host a traveling “Lest We Forget” exhibit, with 19 large portraits of Holocaust survivors placed outside the school. The goal is to increase awareness about the horrors of the Holocaust, according to Jason Pounds, the Houston High School faculty member overseeing the initiative.

“The community is really excited about it,” said Pounds, who holds a master’s degree in Holocaust history and genocide studies. “These are formative years for students. What has made it even more important to me is when you look at the Claims Conference study and see that only 44% of people could tell you what Auschwitz was.”

On April 30, Luigi Toscano, the creator of “Lest We Forget,” will be the featured guest at a Houston High School assembly. There is a potential for the “Lest We Forget” education project to expand beyond the pilot schools to other communities in Missouri and throughout the U.S. Pounds said his students are eager to demonstrate their knowledge of the Holocaust and make the most of the opportunity. 

“I really put it on my students,” he said. “They have chosen to do a tour. They chose two survivors to learn their story. They’re going to record audio and have a self-guided tour with QR codes to learn more. It will address a concentration camp or Kristallnacht, knowing that the general public does not always know what these things are.”

Pounds has been teaching a Holocaust lesson plan in Houston High School for the past decade. He said materials provided by the Missouri Holocaust Education Commission have been a great resource for educators, and his students understand the importance of the “Lest We Forget” project.

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“We started with a mission statement, and they said they wanted to set a standard,” he said. “They want to make sure that what they did was quality that the school, the community and themselves, they would be proud of what they did. They’ve worked hard and I’m excited to see the final product.”

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