We had an amazing week last week to honor September 11th's ten year anniversary. I feel so privileged to be able to teach about the heroism and bravery that our fellow countrymen exhibited that day and in the years since.We spent Tuesday discussing the facts of the attacks that took place on 9/11. We viewed video tributes to those who lost their lives and we talked about the feelings that many Americans felt that day.
Wednesday, we were lucky enough to have three special guest speakers come to our room to share their experiences. One was Army Captain Crystal Haas who is currently deployed and serving her second tour in Iraq, leaving behind her husband and 2 year old son Reed. Another was Lance Corporal Ian Rush, a Marine Reservist based here in Phoenix who enlisted after 9/11 and has trained and worked to be ready to be called to serve where needed. The third guest speaker was Major Ben Luoma, a CA fourth grade student's father. He is a full time member of the Army National Guard and has served in Afghanistan and now locally since 9/11.
These guest speakers were an invaluable eye opener for our students about the sacrifices and bravery that are still taking place in regard to the events of that fateful September day ten years ago. There were many questions from the students as to the whats, whys and hows of military service, which were answered honestly and opened even more discussion.
Following the guest speakers, we opened the floor for students to share words that described their feelings about all that they had learned, seen and discussed about September 11th. We listed all the "negatives" like fear, terror, pain and anger in blue on the board. Positive words like faith, bravery, heroism and pride were written in red. After the board was filled, I had the students look for an overall color of the words. The board was nearly completely red. This made me so happy! The students really focused on the good and positive that came from the horrible things that happened.
Our final activity of the week to honor September 11th was to create a model of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers out of the white boxes that students brought in. On the boxes, students wrote their response to our discussions. Some wrote one word on all sides of their box. Some filled their box with multiple words. Some illustrated, some left it stark. Each box was a beautiful piece of their own feelings. I felt privileged to handle them and use them to build the Towers model. I hope you had a chance to get up close and look at the words and feelings that were shared by your student and their peers on our memorial. It was very touching!
Our goal this week was to look for the good and focus on the positive while still giving respect to the things that happened and to those that were (and still are) affected by September 11th. I hope that we succeeded in reaching your child and encouraging a pride for being an American in them!
