Teaching 9-11 In New Jersey: A Local Decision

By TOM DAVIS, ALEXIS TARRAZI and CARLY BALDWIN

As the 15th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 attacks approaches, New Jersey will continue the same policy it's always had when dealing with the worst terrorism attack ever on U.S. soil.

New Jersey, which lost nearly 700 people in the attacks, leaves it up to local school districts to determine how they want to teach about the tragedy that killed so many of the state's residents.

And it was a tragedy that left many of the state's students without mothers, fathers, or even both. That kind of impact is not lost on school officials as they address their school communities, and deal with the issue's lingering sensitivity.

"One of our primary aims is for students to learn history so they can apply those understandings to what they see going on in the world around them, make sense of current issues and to develop the tools necessary to be positive contributors to the global community," Kristin Fox, supervisor of social studies in Bernards Township public schools, wrote to Patch in an email.

Indeed, anyone who was as young as kindergarten-age when the attacks occurred is either in college or out of school altogether. So none of New Jersey's current K-12 students should have any memory of the attacks - and most weren't even alive.

But Mike Yaple, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said the state trusts local districts to make the right decision when it comes to teaching 9-11. In the meantime, the DOE aids local officials and teachers by providing resources.

Those resources include the NJ Holocaust Commission within the DOE, which has a curriculum that includes 9-11, offering lesson plans for teachers in various grade levels and numerous programming ideas and projects.

While learning about 9-11 isn't specifically required in the state's curriculum, learning about terrorism is, Yaple said.

"Learning about terrorism and its effects is an issue that our Social Studies standards calls for to be taught by the fourth grade," he said.

One of the most common acts taken by local school districts involves designating 9-11 as a special day of observance.

In South Brunswick, for example, the district has added "Patriot Day" on Sept. 11 to its list of annual observances. That means that, in each school, a small memorial of some kind takes place.

"This can range from a morning announcement, a special pledge and song, a flag raising, a video broadcast, etc.," said Joanne Kerekes, assistant Superintendent of the South Brunswick School District

Within the curriculum itself, the "enduring understandings" connected to 9-11 are embedded in the 7th grade Social Sciences curriculum and in both U.S. History II and Global Studies, she said.

In addition, the district has a semester-long course at its high school, "Perspectives on 9-11," which is offered as an elective for grades 11 and 12, Kerekes said.

The course explores the ideological origins that led to 9-11, historical examples of terrorism, and the aftermath of 9-11 with regard to U.S. foreign and domestic policy, as well as governmental and social change, she said.

"These courses provide students with a greater understanding of the role of perpetrators, apathetic bystanders and victims of human cruelty," Kerekes wrote in an email to Patch. "They examine the factors that enable humans, collectively and individually, to carry out crimes against humanity."

For many towns in New Jersey, a commuter's hop, skip and a jump into Lower Manhattan, 9-11 is deeply personal.

Middletown Township, for example, on the Jersey Shore, lost 37 residents in the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the most out of any town in the state.

"Middletown lost so many residents in the attack, and so as a district we feel very strongly that our students remember this day," said Charlene O'Hagan, the district director of curriculum for Middletown public schools. "But we also want do it in an age-appropriate way."

For example, in Middletown elementary schools, an announcement will be made either Friday or Monday morning that the day is Patriot Day, and it's a day to honor all the nation's heroes, said O'Hagan. It will be followed by a playing of "The Star Spangled Banner."

"We don't say there was an attack in Manhattan; we don't make mention that planes flew into a tower at this certain time," she said. "All the principals agree we don't want to frighten young children who are only in kindergarten."

At the district's three middle schools, where students are in 6th, 7th and 8th grade, "They go a little more in-depth. There is an announcement in the morning where we say that 15 years ago today there was an attack on our country and there is a moment of silence."

At Thorne Middle School, she said the principal always explicitly says, "There was an attack on the World Trade Center and 37 residents of Middletown were killed on that day. And we never want to forget all the citizens around the world who gave their lives on that day."

At Middletown's two high schools, North and South, there will be a moment of silence, and 9/11 is fully covered in the school's U.S history and civics courses.

In Bernards Township, the 9-11 focus is on the themes that emerged in the aftermath of the tragic event, Fox said.

"While the events of 9-11 itself are not explicitly taught, the students do learn lessons about random acts of kindness, heroism and other similar themes that emerged following the tragedy," she said.

On the anniversary of 9-11 each year, for instance, students in each grade focus on one lesson related to the terrorism attacks. Many of the lessons are designed using curricular materials provided to districts by the DOE.

"In addition to these lessons, we have a number of character education programs throughout the year that continue to reinforce these ideas and help us teach our students to remember the lessons from that day," Fox said.

At the secondary level, several of Bernards Township's courses examine aspects of the history of 9-11 and its aftermath. The students in Global History and U.S. History complete their studies by examining the world today and exploring solutions to current issues, including global terrorism, she said.

"In Global History II, students study how the growth of terrorism has affected geopolitical relations in the unit, 'The Modern World,' " she said. "In U.S. History, students complete their studies with the unit, 'Modern America.' The students evaluate the impact of 9/11 on the United States and they consider the role of the United States in the world today."

Patch file photo