Remembering September 11, 2001

"9/11" is shorthand for four coordinated terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group, that occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001. The attacks killed 2,977 people.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists from al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes, deliberately crashing two of the planes into the upper floors of the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex and a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. The Twin Towers ultimately collapsed because of the damage sustained from the impacts and the resulting fires. After learning about the other attacks, passengers on the fourth hijacked plane, Flight 93, fought back, and the plane was crashed into an empty field in western Pennsylvania about 20 minutes by air from Washington, D.C.

The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people from 93 nations. 2,753 people were killed in New York, 184 people were killed at the Pentagon and 40 people were killed on Flight 93. (https://www.911memorial.org/faq-about-911)

In 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation officially establishing September 11th Remembrance Day.  The law allows for a brief moment of silence in public schools across the state and encourages dialogue and education in the classroom.  The 9/11 Memorial and Museum has produced a multitude of educational and informational resources around this tragic moment in our country's history.  We've provided links below to a few of the lessons available on their website that you should consider implementing in your classroom.  Check out lessons below and visit their main lesson plan page for more.  Please also read their tips for Talking to Children About Terrorism.  

As with any topic that can be sensitive, it is important to make sure classrooms have restorative practices in place. If watching a video or reading a story, be sure to have a circle to have a restorative conversation about what was shared. Be sure that student feelings and thoughts around the events are validated. 

There is a group (Story Corps 9/11) putting together animated stories about the victims of 9/11.  They are very real and heartbreaking.  In everything we do, we have to make time for reflection and restorative circles to take place.  Traumatic events  will be triggering and we need the time to work through the emotions as they come.  Building relationships, and creating a safe, healthy emotional space is step one for working through the trauma people experience as individuals, as a community, and as a classroom.  Please reach out to our SEL Teams for guidance.