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By Dan Cosgrove (6th/7th Grade Social Studies Teacher
With the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 upon us, it only seemed fitting to have students learn about the events of that fateful day. As I gathered material from magazines, and looked at videos to show in class, I decided to have students conduct their own research by interviewing adults about that day.
As students bought their interviews and started sharing them, I was struck with the powerful messages they were bringing to class, and the impact it had on local citizens.
One dad who was working on a pipeline job near Barnes Run remembers seeing small yellow planes flying over, dropping rabies vaccine pellets. Suddenly they were gone (all planes were quickly grounded).
When he went to move his truck he heard the news on the radio. As the events unfolded he shared with his son that he went from being scared, to being sad for the people who lost their lives, to finally being angry.
Virtually every interview had the same reaction of going through all those emotions.
There was a range of activities that people were doing at the time, from folding laundry, working in a nursing home, a few were working on pipeline jobs, one was sitting at a desk, a couple were driving.
In other words, the normal things we do.
All the students asked how it changed them, and how it changed the country. Most discussed short term changes, the initial emotions, for themselves.
The overwhelming majority talked about how it brought our country together. One gave a chilling commentary of how we always felt secure, but now we know "this country could not be too careful. We knew this could and might happen again."
I want to thank all the parents and relatives who gave some great interviews to their children.
I could not have put any amount of information together, that gave them a better understanding of that period in American History. Some students are still working on this assignment.
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