As we take time to reflect upon the events of September 11, 2001 it is interesting to note that most of our memories will involve, in some way, being in school. Whether you were a student in an elementary school classroom wondering why everyone was going home early, or a teacher being asked to make sense of this horrible tragedy while still maintaining a high degree of professionalism, this was a day we will never forget.
The Bellarion has asked several students and teachers to share their memories of September 11, 2001. In addition, some of the teachers are from the Bel Air High School feeder school and they have taken the time to recall what was going in the schools as you sat there as 5, 6,7 and 8 years.
Finally, please take a moment to view the video which accompanies this story. In the video Bel Air High School Principal, Mr. Greg Komondor, first shares his thoughts on this historic day. BAHS teacher Mr. Craig Reddish next recalls the untimely death of his college roommate in the World Trade Center and the subsequent funeral. Finally, Bel Air High School senior Derek Spanellis recalls sitting in his New Jersey classroom and actually watching the first hijacked airplane crash in the World Trade Center.
Ms. Johnson (Wagner), Homestead Wakefield Elementary Teacher:
On September 11th 2001, I was making little clay finger puppets with my third grade Art class at Homestead Wakefield Elementary. We had one of those fabulous mornings, when every kid made something really cute, and we had just finished painting our projects, and we were lined up with our masterpieces attached to our pointer fingers making them talk and introduce themselves in their “puppet voice.” It was so sweet and innocent and FUN. I opened the door grinning from ear to ear, laughing with the kids, so happy and proud of their little creations.
It was 9:50 am.
I looked into the open doorway across the hall and saw two teachers with their mouths open staring at a TV whose screen I couldn’t see. As I looked across the hall one of them waved me over, horror on her face. I lingered in line with my finger puppet class as I said goodbye to each of them, sensing that the sweetness and innocence I was enjoying with them would be over when I walked across the hall. When I saw the TV screen, the disbelief and sadness that followed were such a stark contrast to the joy moments before. I think about those kids often. They are 18 now, long past their days of innocence, as am I. I will always remember them, and it will always bring a wistful smile to my face when I do. I hope remembering that day and survivng it allows us all to make the most of our lives. I hope they still have blissful moments of joy and happiness, too.
Ashley Timmon, Bel Air High School Student:
About 10 years ago, on the tragic day of September 11, 2001, I remember sitting in Mrs. Seippel’s Classroom I was 6 years old and in second grade. It was getting close to the end of the day, and we had just begun a new math lesson. To my knowledge, it was just a normal school day. Then, the office kept calling the classroom for students to be dismissed. I remember watching everyone leave and go home, one-by-one. No one knew what was going on, not even the teacher. After about 9 kids had already left, the office called again and that my parents were here to pick me up. I was excited because it was finally my turn to go home, but I was also very confused about why I was leaving I remember the look on my mom’s face when she came to pick me up. She was excited to see, but she had a very sad, gloomy and scared look on her face. When we arrived home, I asked what happened and why everyone got to leave school early. My mom told me that something very bad happened today in New York, so everybody wanted to keep their families together. I finally watched the new and found out what actually happened. I was scared.
Mr. Blackburn, Bel Air High School Teacher:
On September 11, 2001 I was teaching a Yearbook class at Joppatowne High School. It was a first period class, and one of my students came to school late and told us that a plane had crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. We immediately turned on the television and began to watch. Just like most of the world, we all thought it had just been a horrible accident. Unfortunately, as we watched the second plane crash into the World Trade Center we realized something far more sinister was unfolding.
We did not switch classes, and my yearbook kids stayed with me for the next several hours. I will never forget watching a line of at least 200 NYC Firefighters bravely march into the burning towers. They all carried with them bundles of hoses. One of my students asked what they were doing and I explained how on each floor of a skyscraper there were water outlets and that they were taking the hoses up into the towers to fight the fires floor by floor. We watched all of these men go up into the towers. The cameras were tuned tightly to their anxious faces. We could clearly see each fire fighter as they moved past the cameras. When the towers collapsed several minutes later we all realized that there was no way these men could have survived. My room was silent as I, and my students, realized that we had just witnessed someone’s last moments on earth. It was a sobering scene and one which I will never forget.
Ms. Markle, Bel Air High School Teacher:
I was teaching at Fallston Middle school. Word got around quietly but we did not tell our students at first. Then parents started to come to school to pick up their children. I got a knock on the door from a guidance counselor who told me that one of my student’s father worked at the Pentagon and his mother was here to take him home. They had not heard from the father. Later, I found out the father was fine. There were other students at FMS who had family members at the Pentagon that day. None were hurt.
Kelsey Jenkens, Bel Air High School Student:
On the day of 911 the only thing that I remember is being in music class. We all were playing with instruments and then one by one each student was being called out of class for dismissal. As second graders, we didn’t know any better so we just assumed it was ironic. Then everyone was being ordered to be sent home and our teachers told us the exterminators were coming to spray our school. I then got called out of class and all of our neighbors were in the same car and we piled into one van. I saw the look on my mom’s face and knew she was very upset about something. When I had gotten home, I remember my parents both explaining to me what was happening and it terrified me.
A couple years ago I went to New York for the first time and I had gotten the chance to see where the twin towers once stood. It is amazing how I could see how much this day had affected every single person and how far people went to save others lives.
Ms. Snow, Bel Air High School Teacher:
On September 11, 2001, I was in my first year teaching and was on my planning period when word came that the first tower had been hit. I went to the library where the television was on. I walked in and watched the second plane hit the tower. The bell rang shortly thereafter and we were instructed to carry on class as normal and not to bring our students to the media center. My next class was English 10 and I told them what was going on. I also told them that my brother-in-law had an office in one of the towers and that no one had heard from him. I turned on the radio and instructed the students to get out a sheet of paper. I told them to write, draw or even fold the paper while they listened to what was going on. It was silent as the students listened.
Luckilly, my brother-in-law was not in his office that day and was safe, but thousands of others were not so lucky.
Amanda English, Bel Air High School Student:
I was in second grade at the time of the attack. I first remember sitting in lunch around 10:30, and seeing a lot of parents coming into the school to pick up their children. My class size slowly became smaller and smaller as more kids left early. I don’t think I was concerned by this; I was probably hoping I would get to leave school soon as well. My school called a mandatory early dismissal soon after, I recall. My mother picked me up. It was a beautiful day I remember, and now that I think about it, I can’t even believe that merely a few miles away there was complete chaos. When we walked into my house, the TV was on and I asked what had happened. Even after hearing the news. I couldn’t comprehend the severity of the attack.
Ms. Stone, Hickory Elementary School Teacher:
My students were at specials and I was in my room alone on the computer. One of my teammates rushed in and told me to turn on the television which I did. Words can not describe the feelings I experienced as I watched the horror of what had happened unfold.
Our principal gave the directive that we were in no way to mention any of the events to the children–only continue on–business as usual. But as teachers whispered in the hallway and students began to be called to the office for early dismissal in large numbers, my students became more and more concerned. By the time I picked up the remaining students from a pretty empty cafeteria after lunch, some were in tears. Since my students were 5th graders, I felt I needed to offer some sort of explanation. I told them the truth–but only part of the truth since one of my students had a parent working at the Pentagon. I informed my class that there had been a plane crash and that many parents like to be with their children when something bad happens. That is why many were being picked up early. That seemed to sastify the students and I really didn’t say anything about the horrors that had happened in keeping with my principal’s direction.
My big worry was about my own children. I had a middle schooler and an elementary school student. I called my neighbor so that she could meet my son’s bus and talk to him and I called my day care provider to make sure my daughter was okay.
9/11 was one of those days I’ll never forget….
Mr. Domenico, Bel Air High School Teacher:
Each year in the Fall my previous High School’s band program would host a Marching Band competition involving bands from around the area. Each year since this show had been established I was invited by the local news station to be on a morning news show and talk for just 5 minutes about the show. The interview was scheduled for the morning of September 11, 2001.
I was in a news room for an NBC affiliate when the first plane hit the towers. The sounds of people working was stopped by what we all witnessed on the news feed. It is hard to remember if I did the interview or not, but I do remember the incredibly loud silence just before the news people started to go into action. I left the studio and rushed to get back to school to see my band, who was rehearsing with the counties Music Resource teacher for the upcoming show.
By the time I arrived at school and could get to the field with the band students I realized none of them had heard about what I just saw, the school had just begun to announce what was happening in New York but the band was on a field about 200 yards away. I sat them all down on the practice field and explained what had happened, again I heard that silence from earlier.
The school was going through a renovation and the music area had not been completed, so we actually only had a small classroom to meet in when the weather was bad. We had a small TV and all 80 students came from the field and fit in this small room to see the news and gather as much information as we could. By this time the Pentagon was involved in the attack, and one of my students father worked in the Pentagon, more silence.
In a strange way I felt very close to these students during this experience. I realized early on I was the first to tell them of the 9/11 attack and when they thought back to this day they would think of their Band Director and how he told them of the attacks. I was humbled and overwhelmed with this. I had friends living in New York, I received an email from one of them telling me they where ok and they could see the towers fall from the roof of their place of business.
Recently the BAHS Band and Choir performed a piece called “Sapier’s Story” about a young girl who was living in New York and in elementary school at the time of the 9/11 attacks. The composer of the piece, who had written the piece after meeting Sapier, came and worked with the group and explained the inspiration of the music. The students seemed genuinely moved. Another group of young people trying to understand this senseless violence. Like the students I had in 2001, these students fought with the “why”.
Ever time 9/11 is mentioned I think back to my “kids” and how I walked up the hill to that practice field. They made me so proud even when I had such horrible things to tell them. I also remember the pride I had in the students who performed “Sapier’s Story” here at Bel Air High School. Such a mature and emotional task in which they accomplished with pride and honor.
Bre Ringer, Bel Air High School Student:
When 9/11 happened I was in second grade at Forest Hill Elementary in Mrs.Fabers class. I remember a couple of people being called for dismissal fairly early in the day. The office repeatedly made announcements telling teachers to check their e-mail. Soon enough we were sitting on the carpet being read to. There was phone call after phone call to the room for more kids to be dismissed. I eventually started thinking about why everyone was leaving and something felt wrong. I got called for dismissal and went home with my mom. She looked worried as we went home and my dad was already home. I asked why I left school early and they told me our country had been attacked by terrorists. I asked what they are and they said people who hate our country. All we watched the rest of the day was the news and seeing it all on there scared me. I was so young and so scared and I was scared that they would attack the rest of the country including where we lived. That is one day I will never forget because of all of the fear and commotion.
Ms. Manzone, Emmorton Elementary School Teacher:
At the elementary level, we did not involve the students in any of the news. We felt that was better left to their parents to present it in a way that would make sense to them as a family.
My job as a nonclassroom teacher was to help with the arrival of parents and dismissal of students in an orderly fashion. Many of the parents who came to take their children home were anxious, upset, even crying. The line extended far out the door. I did my best to keep them calm and let them know the procedures we would be using, including checking EVERYONE’s ID that day. I think when the buses came to take the remaining students home, there may have been no more than 100 kids left out of over 700.
The thing that I will always remember was one of the first parents through the door – a woman in her full military uniform. She said she had been called in, but needed to pick up her children and take them to a neighbor’s before she could go. I remember thinking how ironic it was that even in the midst of a military crisis, this woman still had to be a mom first and a soldier second – sobering.