story4810.xml

story4810.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I am a 5th grade elementary school teacher in the nearby city of Grand Praire, TX. I live on the other side of the dividing road that is Arlington, TX. On the morning of September 11th I arrived at school at about 7:00 a.m. I don't watch televison or listen to radio once I get to school, so I would not have any idea of the events that were about to unfold as they happened. When the bell rang at 8:30 a.m. one of my students told me that they had heard on the radio on their way to school that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I look at the child and said "sure it did, now go sit down". I simply did not believe it! A little while later my husband called my classroom and told that two planes had hit the World Trade center and that the Pentagon had now also been hit. I was in disbelief. We were under attack! I remained calm and said nothing to the children. I did not know how I would explain this to them. They viewed their world, the U.S. as safe. When the children went to their Gym class I turned on the T.V. and saw the horror of the World trade center. I actually saw footage of people leaping out of the buildings! It was horrific. Soon, parents started to arrive to pick up their kids. The school board decided not to cancel classes, but parents could go and get their children. This posed a problem, as I had not wanted to explain this to my class. I felt that it was best to let their parents try to explain such a difficult catastrophe. However, as the parents of some of the children arrived, this upset those who were left behind so much that we spent the rest of the day discussing what was going on. I assured them that they were safe,and one boy said "I am sure that all of those people who just went to work today or got the planes thought that they were safe too." He was so right. This event redefines our images of safety. America was under attack from a cowardly enemy. The next day (September 12, 2001) I gave each child a piece of paper and an envelope and had them write about who they were on this day and time and about their feelings of the previous days events. Once they were finished they each sealed their letter in the envelope and wrote on the outside of it to open it in twenty years. It will be a valuable look at this event throught eyes of a child. We will no longer ever be that innocent again. God bless America and those who have given their lives so that our great Nation may live!