This just popped up from a former student on my school’s Facebook page. I never quite realized how my actions as a teacher would be etched in memory… what responsibility!

“On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I’d like to take the time and recall where I was on that tragic date. I had just turned 11 and was starting 6th grade at Park Maitland. I remember walking up the inside stairs by Mrs. Finwall’s room and saw the second plane hit as I watched on the TV in her classroom. A few teachers were gathered around the tv and must have seen that I was looking, because I was quickly ushered up the stairs where my class gathered in Mrs. Auer’s room. With a dry erase marker, she drew two tall buildings on the board and labeled them “World Trade Center”. She explained that they were located in New York City and had been hit by two airplanes. I had been to New York City a few times to visit my grandfather, but I couldn’t remember what the towers looked like in real life. I found out later that we actually have a framed family picture with the towers in the background . The teachers were so kind that day, as they always were, and my mom picked me up from school early. Little did I know that my world had changed that day, that our world had changed. Fortunately, we were still able to go on our Washington DC trip that year, but touring the capital carried even more meaning to us. I’m now 21 and a senior at UF, but I will never forget my morning on September 11, 2001.”