story4981.xml
Title
story4981.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
On September 11, 2001, I was at work teaching math at a high school on Long Island's East End.
I heard about the attacks during a fire drill and listened to radio reports throughout my prep period. For the next three class periods I didn't know the extent of the terror. Announcements were being made over the PA system telling students not to leave the building, that we were now a closed campus. Parents were beginning to arrive to pick up their children.
It wasn't until my lunch period (about 12 noon)that I was able to get to a television and watch as the events replayed before my eyes. I was horrified to think that this could happen to our country. I began to worry about my family (NYC EMS and USAF) and friends who live and work in Manhattan.
During my next class i calmly told the students what I knew of the events of the day explaining that the skyline that made New York City distinguished, had changed. They asked serious questions about the future and war.
Then, once they were satisfied, they asked to be taught. The majority of the students wanted normalcy. So i instructed them to take out their books and turn to page 31. Let's begin with problem #1. I read "Of the tallest buildings in the United States three are in Chicago...three others are in New York City: the Empire State building, the World Trade Center... and I had to stop. We all looked at each other not knowing what to say or think or do. We closed our books a nd remained in quiet contemplation for the remainder of the class period.
Peggy Sciommeri
Math Teacher
Riverhead High School
Riverhead, New York
I heard about the attacks during a fire drill and listened to radio reports throughout my prep period. For the next three class periods I didn't know the extent of the terror. Announcements were being made over the PA system telling students not to leave the building, that we were now a closed campus. Parents were beginning to arrive to pick up their children.
It wasn't until my lunch period (about 12 noon)that I was able to get to a television and watch as the events replayed before my eyes. I was horrified to think that this could happen to our country. I began to worry about my family (NYC EMS and USAF) and friends who live and work in Manhattan.
During my next class i calmly told the students what I knew of the events of the day explaining that the skyline that made New York City distinguished, had changed. They asked serious questions about the future and war.
Then, once they were satisfied, they asked to be taught. The majority of the students wanted normalcy. So i instructed them to take out their books and turn to page 31. Let's begin with problem #1. I read "Of the tallest buildings in the United States three are in Chicago...three others are in New York City: the Empire State building, the World Trade Center... and I had to stop. We all looked at each other not knowing what to say or think or do. We closed our books a nd remained in quiet contemplation for the remainder of the class period.
Peggy Sciommeri
Math Teacher
Riverhead High School
Riverhead, New York
Collection
Citation
“story4981.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 18, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/13838.