The Lessons of 9/11

Artwork recalling the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 is sometimes captioned with the slogan “Never Forget.”

For the academic staff at Belleville Middle School, that slogan is a concrete call to action.

Every year since 9/11, BMS teachers have formulated lesson plans designed to preserve the memory of that day, a task that has grown more challenging with each passing year.

Today, a little more than a week after the 10th anniversary of the attacks, many of the 11- to 13-year-old students walking the halls “don’t have their own memories of the attacks,” said Dawn Buccino, an eighth-grade English teacher who has worked at BMS for 35 years.

“Our goal as educators is to be sure that this is never forgotten and that the next generation realizes the importance of that day,” Buccino said today, when BMS dedicated much of its instruction to the history of  9/11.

Collages consisting of newspaper clippings and student artwork adorned the halls. Teacher Jude Ann Rovito asked students to trace their hand prints and inscribe them with their own sentiments about the attacks. “RIP Sept. 11 victims,” read one inscription. Other students wrote thank-yous to the firefighters and police officers who lost their lives at the World Trade Center. 

Other teachers designed lessons meant to show how even today 9/11 impacts the lives of students who were still in preschool -- or younger -- 10 years ago.

“I explain to them how you used to be able to go to the airport and just get on the plane,” said social studies teacher Anthony Ferrara. “That’s something they can relate to. They know about the airport.”

Ferrara also led discussions about the Patriot Act, the legislation passed in the aftermath of the attacks bestowing wider surveillance powers on the government. Science teacher Tammy Retkwa talked about safety precautions put in place following the anthrax attacks that came quick on the heels of 9/11, further jarring the nerves of a nation already on edge.

“[The attacks] are becoming like folklore” for her students, Retkwa added. “Its something passed down from the previous generation.”

In just a few short years, Belleville Middle School will indeed have no students who were alive when the World Trade Center was brought down. Right now, though, some students retain at least a vague sense of that day (although Retkwa notes that kids may just be repeating what their parents told them).

“I only remember I was kind of scared because my family was panicking,” said 12-year-old Kevin Alfaro.