BLOOMFIELD — Marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shankerville, Pa., last week, Carteret Elementary School had its first-ever commemoration of that day. Signifying its importance, sixth-graders, sitting on the gym floor, heard from teachers about their personal experiences. According to teacher Mike Cullen, the day’s observance was driven by guidance counselor Marissa Acosta.
“We have, in the past, only had small classroom lessons,” he said. “It’s a very sensitive subject at the elementary level.”
But Acosta suggested having the children insert American flags on the school lawn. And then the question was asked by teachers: How can we add to this?
“That’s how powerful lessons develop,” Cullen said, and the teachers’ recollections became part of the students’ experience.
The school’s classroom observance began the day before, on Thursday, Sept. 10.
“The kids asked how many people survived the attacks, how many got out,” Cullen said. “They thought how elaborate the terrorists’ plan must have been, how they even learned to fly the planes.”
Cullen said empathy for the Sept. 11, 2001, experience was what he wanted the students to feel. He was especially happy with their curiosity and expressions of empathy for the people who did not escape the destruction.
He and his students also discussed how life has changed since then. They understood the need for heightened security when boarding a plane or attending a concert, since Sept. 11, 2001. He told his students that the date was not just another day.
“Everyone was scared,” he told them. “Family and friends became very important in making us feel safe.”
He expressed to his students that although “never forget” was just a slogan, it was important for them to actually never forget 9/11.
He rhetorically asked the sixth-graders sitting the gym floor how should the message “never forget” be remembered by people who were born after Sept. 11, 2001?
“It’s what we do in school every day,” he answered. “We learn about that day and continue to be lifelong learners. We learn how important it is to learn about the past. We continue to care for others. We have questions and empathy.”
Cullen said, for him, the most powerful moments of the school’s commemoration were when he heard colleagues talk about how it must have felt for people, who escaped the wreckage, knowing their close friends would not.
Acosta said that 9/11 was a day in history that should never be forgotten and for students to understand this event is to honor those who lost their lives.
“One of my close friends, from college, lost her uncle that day,” she said. “I asked her opinion on how 9/11 should be taught and she said it perfectly: ‘As someone who lost a loved one that day, the graphic videos, pictures and recordings are extremely triggering. Those images and sounds are embedded in my brain, so seeing those things all over social media every year is really hard. So when you teach your students, tell them of what happened, how that day was the absolute worst. But instead of showing them the trauma, show them pictures, videos, recordings, of the nation coming together. Teach them the love, peace and togetherness that came from that day. They need to know what happened because it’s important, but what they need to know most is that strength, bravery, and unity followed that horrible day,’”
Acosta added that it was a teacher’s job to share their vulnerability with students and to remind them how important it is to show empathy, even if you were not there when something terrible happens to someone else.
Photo by Daniel Jackovino
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