NYC Educator Reflects On Helping Children Process 9/11 Attacks
4 hours ago
As Americans mark 25 years since the September 11 terrorist attacks, a former New York City principal is reflecting on the difficult task educators faced helping children understand and cope with the tragedy.
Dan Feigelson, former principal of P.S. 6 Lillie D. Blake School on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, recalled how teachers and administrators worked with students in the days, months and years following the attacks.
For children across New York City, September 11 was not simply a national tragedy playing out on television. Some students had parents working in or near the World Trade Center, while others experienced the fear and uncertainty that spread across the city as families waited to learn whether their loved ones were safe.
Feigelson recalled the experience of helping a student who lost a parent in the attacks and the responsibility educators faced as children returned to their classrooms carrying grief, questions and fear.
The anniversary also highlights a growing challenge for schools: teaching September 11 to students who were not alive when the attacks occurred. An entire generation has now grown up without a personal memory of that day, learning about it instead through teachers, parents, historical footage and the changes to American life that followed.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed when terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes on September 11, 2001, striking the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers.
Twenty-five years later, schools continue to play an important role in preserving those memories and helping new generations understand not only what happened, but the lives that were lost and the lasting impact the attacks had on New York City and the nation.
Dan Feigelson, former principal of P.S. 6 Lillie D. Blake School on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, recalled how teachers and administrators worked with students in the days, months and years following the attacks.
For children across New York City, September 11 was not simply a national tragedy playing out on television. Some students had parents working in or near the World Trade Center, while others experienced the fear and uncertainty that spread across the city as families waited to learn whether their loved ones were safe.
Feigelson recalled the experience of helping a student who lost a parent in the attacks and the responsibility educators faced as children returned to their classrooms carrying grief, questions and fear.
The anniversary also highlights a growing challenge for schools: teaching September 11 to students who were not alive when the attacks occurred. An entire generation has now grown up without a personal memory of that day, learning about it instead through teachers, parents, historical footage and the changes to American life that followed.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed when terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes on September 11, 2001, striking the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers.
Twenty-five years later, schools continue to play an important role in preserving those memories and helping new generations understand not only what happened, but the lives that were lost and the lasting impact the attacks had on New York City and the nation.