As a high school teacher, I was monitoring studyhall like every school day when a fellow teacher hustled into the cafeteria and told me, “We are under attack!” I didn’t even understand what these words meant - I couldn’t wrap my brain around what she had said. She continued, “The World Trade Center has been bombed. It’s all over the TV. ” The bell rang and I headed upstairs to my classroom, still unsure what this teacher meant. Was she being dramatic? She had said it was on TV…. The classroom across the hall from mine had a cable drop and the German teacher in there had the TV on. Students sat glued to the screen listening to a newscast in real time. Her grim look told me it was serious and she invited me to watch. I herded my class into her room as students were starting to hear the news from friends in the hall. They filled every seat, sat on the floor, and soon the French class joined us, too. Every one watched in silence as the horror unfolded. The reality pierced our hearts and tears stung our eyes. After about 30mins of broadcasting, our classes dispersed and we quietly returned to our own classrooms. Hushed discussions began as students and teachers tried to process what we just watched. There were a lot of questions and a lot of “I don’t know”s.

Within the hour (and throughout the rest of the school day) students were called out of classes as their parents came to pick them up. The uncertainty of what could happen next left parents panicked for their children. Families wanted to be together and parents wanted hands on their children. I remember wanting to leave myself. I wanted the security of my husband, and I wanted to scoop up my almost 3-yr old son and hold him close.

The school was eerily quiet for the rest of the day as it emptied of students. Teaching felt useless, even inappropriate at the time, so we lingered around and talked quietly. Eventually classes gathered in the library to continue watching the news. We learned about Shanksville and the Pentagon. Stunned, we wondered how all this could happen.

Watching parents hug their students and escort them to cars to travel home together renewed my faith in the strength of family. Seeing the country UNITE together against the terrorist attack renewed my sense of patriotism. In the following days we saw stories of heroes helping others. Americans loved our country and were bonded in grief and in the struggle of overcoming this terrorist attack together. The uniting of the country was inspiring and left a lasting impression on me. I shared the somber story of 9/11 with my students every year for years.