Some described the Dialogue in the Dark experience as "eye opening"; others returned with a greater appreciation for having their sense of sight and still others will remember the experience of how people with limited or no sight feel every day.

  "I personally loved it," said Senior Jacob Horn. "We walked around in various places in pitch blackness."

  "We took a tour through Union Station with only a stick and our tour guide to show us the way," said Mrs. Sollars, a science teacher who experienced the exhibit. "We went through places that sounded and felt like a market place, a busy street and forest."

  Each gallery at the exhibit was constructed to replicate everyday places but from a perspective of people who have vision problems. The dark rooms were enhanced to recreate everyday places like a park and a city street with all the scents, sounds, wind, textures and tempters. A vision impaired or blind guide would lead a group of visitors through each room to show what it was like to live in a world without sight.

  "It was very interesting to use sound and touch to figure out your surroundings," said Mrs. Sollars

  "It totally took us out of our comfort zone. It was nothing like I’ve experienced before," commented Ms. Griffin. "But being in the park makes you feel like you use your sight a lot more than you think."

  Before entering the exhibition, students were asked to leave all bags, purses, cell phones, and personal items or anything that could emit light in a secure locker. Examples were a pager, light up watch, and all tennis shoes needed to be removed and checked.

  Students who wore glasses may wish to check them, as they won’t be needed in the dark and might get broken while going through the exhibit. All students are taken through the exhibit in groups of nine and their school chaperone. Each group had their own tour guide who was either blind or visually disabled. They led, helped navigate, oriented, and encouraged students through each of the galleries.

  "We had a lady who became blind from a health issue, just in the past ten years," said Mrs. Sollars.

  At the end of the tour the students exited through a Reflection hallway in which they were gradually returned to a visible, well lit world.

  Kansas City was just the second city in the United States to host this ambitious experiential exhibit. The exhibit will run until March 29, 2009.