story6693.xml

story6693.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

September 11 was in the second week of school, so I was still getting used to arising with the roosters. It wasn't until I was driving to work that I heard about the World Trade Center falling. I live in California, so I am quite removed from the horror. At first, my reaction was the same as when I hear of a bridge falling or a train wreck. But, when I arrived at work, I saw the horror on T.V. I called my husband, who had not yet heard about the events. He was the first person I could think of to call, because at that moment, I really needed to talk about what I was seeing. I cried, and then I went numb. I am a high school teacher, and it was my job to inform my first two classes of the day. How do you relate the awful events of that day? My students were in shock. For several weeks we opened the class period by discussing the new events stemming from September 11. I could see a definite difference between my 11th graders and my 10th graders. My juniors seemed to comprehend the seriousness of these events, and they seemed to understand that they were living out history.