I connected to several sites around the world and explained to the kids that we were looking at the fast lane on the information highway. We connected to the University of Moscow Library and the kids saw copies of Russian historical documents and even Bolshevik revolution documents. We looked at an atomic bomb museum in Hiroshima, Japan and wonderful art pieces at The Louvre. We saw castles on the Rhine and one of Adolph Hitler's death camps in Poland. Remember, it was 1996 and public access to the internet was only a few years old.
By far, the most popular site was the Discovery 
Museum in San Francisco. We looked at demonstrations about gravity, light, space and medicine. One demonstration was the dissection of a cow eye. It was a series of videos and was very detailed. The structures, such as the lens, retina, optic nerve and muscles of the eye were removed and discussed. Some of the kids were grossed out but most were very interested. The demonstration wound up telling the kids that their parents could purchase cow eyes from slaughter houses, biological supply houses or the Discovery Museum. One boy came up to me after the demonstration and asked a lot of questions. He was fascinated about the cow eye!
Over the next few months several DOL employees stopped by my office and told me that their kids drove them nuts about getting the internet at home. I was pleased. I retired in 2007. At my retirement open house a woman came up to me and related a story that still gives me shivers. She said her son was fourteen at the time of the “Bring Your Kids to Work Day” and was totally enthralled by the videos. It was the boy that came up afterwards and asked questions. He pestered her to buy dissection kits, microscopes and eyeballs. She said that he decided to go to medical school and specialize in ophthalmology. He is a practicing ophthalmologist in Denver, CO.
I actually inspired a young person on his life work. It doesn’t get any better!
