Students study Sept. 11
By DAILY CHRONICLE
There are certain events in history that are so important that just the mention of the date on which they happened brings shared memories to people around the world. Sept. 11, 2001, is one of those dates.
Students who are in the eighth grade this year would have been 5 years old on that day. Eighth-grade teachers at Clinton Rosette Middle School feel strongly that part of good citizenship is knowledge of what factors have shaped and continue to shape American policies, attitudes, decision-making and more, according to a news release. This year they knew they needed to provide even more information concerning Sept. 11 than they had in previous years, due to the age of their students.
Social studies teachers Amy Fontana and Taneesha Thomas, began the Sept. 11 study by sharing the documentary, “In Memorium,” with their students the week of the Sept. 11. To help guide and broaden their thinking, students were given a video guide-reflection sheet, which prompted them to really think about not just the literal impact of the terrorists’ planes, but the emotional and national impact as well.
Student Christina Antonio expressed the sentiments of many of her classmates when she wrote, “It is true that we need to know about our history, even if it makes me sad. I feel scared that it could happen again, and I pray every day and night that it won’t. ... My friends think it is naïve of me to think that the world could live in peace. I salute our soldiers with honor who are fighting in Iraq, even though I feel we shouldn’t have to be there. Something very good that came out of Sept. 11 is that America went through a hard time and stayed together and worked as a team and as a family.”
On Sept. 11, with the background knowledge from “In Memorium” fresh in their minds, CRMS eighth-graders shared the experience of “Flight 93,” a drama spotlighting the heroic efforts of the crew members on Flight 93, who brought down the fourth plane in a field in Pennsylvania, thwarting the terrorists’ efforts to destroy possibly the Capitol Building or the White House.
Later in the day, students immersed themselves in various aspects of the day as it unfolded eight years before. As students traveled from rotation to rotation, they gained different layers of understanding. In Roger Christensen and Taneesha Thomas’ classes, students took a virtual tour of the World Trade Center before, during and after the attacks.
An integral part of these classes was that students each made a personal connection to an individual victim of Sept. 11. Focus was on researching the backgrounds and lives of some of the people whose lives were lost that day as a way to honor them.
Tim Vincent’s and Karla Pabian’s classes saw the tragedy in a set of numbers that gave reference points to some of the horrors of the day, such as: Six years, eight months, time it took to build the World Trade Center; one hour, 42 minutes, time it took to destroy the towers from first impact to second collapse. Students also viewed aerial pictures of different events during the day as well.
Moving on in their journey of discovery, students heard how music influences, and is influenced by, history. Amy Fontana and Ken Dargatz shared songs by artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith and Michael Jackson. Students noted the progression of the tone and theme of the music from patriotic, to calls for action, to the sharing of individual stories of the day. Students were able to make connections to other songs they have heard that they now recognize as having their beginnings in an event in history.
In an effort to give the students an overarching idea of that day that they could use to “hang” all of the other information, Treveda Redmond’s and Georgia Wirth’s classes focused on a Web site that had a timeline of the day’s events, complete with actual pictures, commentary and sound bites from volunteers and survivors as they tried to describe their emotions about their part in that day.
Students appreciated getting a visual of the chain of events that ended in such tragedy, as well as in such a pulling together of the American people, according to the release.
As the day ended, students again reflected on all they had learned. Student Rachael West shared the perspective of many of her classmates when she said, “I didn’t know how much I didn’t know about the events and consequences of Sept. 11, 2001, until today. I’m glad I know.”
Another student, Mary Fiedler, was inspired to write a poem about the two towers and the men and women who lost their lives in them. One line of her poem speaks to the pride students began to feel in the way America rose above the tragedy:
“In the mornings outside, my flag waves up high,
To boldly remind me, America will not die.”
CRMS eighth-grade teachers honored the heroes and victims of Sept. 11, 2001, by telling their stories; the students received those stories and now carry them into America’s future.
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