9/11
My Students and I Faced Our Own Ground Zero
In a high school classroom 20 years ago, we all learned courage
Twenty years ago, a room full of high school juniors taught me how to be brave.
The second class of the day was supposed to begin soon.
But then all hell broke loose. The slightly stooped but always salty Judy Harris, Grande Dame of the English Department, came running down the hall. She stopped at each of our classroom doors and hollered at her startled colleagues.
“Turn on your TV! Turn on your TV!”
Judy was slight of stature and crusty in manner. The kids adored her. No one had ever seen this guardian of grammar run so fast nor act so agitated.
Turns out Judy had been at the dentist, and was just arriving at school. She’d heard the first apocalyptic news on her car radio.
A little background: Our school is located in the D.C. suburbs. We are relatively close to the Pentagon — about 10 miles straight down the Interstate. Because of this proximity, more than 50% of our school’s students hail from military families.
