KEEP’s roots began in 1992 when a fifth grade class was studying the Holocaust under the direction of Ms. Carrie A. Olson.

Internationally recognized educator Dr. Karen Shawn states,

“You can’t be the same person in the world, in your head, in your heart, after examining the Holocaust. The Holocaust has seeds of every question that every human being must answer to be called a human being. You must decide the answers.”

This was certainly true for these amazing students. They wanted more and when the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum opened in the spring of 1993, Ms. Olson knew these students needed to go.

The families and teachers worked together as never before to raise the needed funds for all students to spend a week in Washington, D.C. learning about our government, bringing to life the history of the United States they had been studying as part of the Denver Public Schools curriculum. Suddenly those lessons came alive for them as the possibility of actually seeing the nation’s capital became a reality.

The planning, fundraising, traveling and cooperation at all levels between school personnel, parents and students had created a collaboration that provided the much needed connection among all of these parties, especially with families who would otherwise not have interacted with school personnel. KEEP has focused on continuing and strengthening those productive relationships.

Every year since 1993, as a result of the participation of every family in the program, a group of inner city youth has traveled with the Kepner team to Washington, D.C.

In 2003, the program was expanded with a trip to Europe for eighth graders, again in conjunction with their study of world history, including the Holocaust.

In 2005 KEEP was formed as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt fundraising organization for the programs.

In 2006, KEEP began the KEEP Mini-Grant Program which supports educational enrichment programs for Kepner students and it also began funding a portion of Kepner’s professional development program which is designed specifically to assist educators whose population comes from families of generational poverty.

In 2007, a seventh grade class studying Colorado history has been added to the program.