I was teaching at Southeast High School on Sept. 11, 2001. My American literature class of juniors had just read The Crucible. I was showing the class a clip from the movie when a colleague came to my door, motioned me into the hall and told me what had happened in New York.
Two weeks earlier I had introduced The Crucible by telling the students about the fear of witches in the time period of the play and asked them to name something they thought would bring mass fear in our time. They had said – our country being attacked.
And so here we were.
I explained what was happening in New York and turned on the news. My students watched in shock. Within a few minutes the bell rang to go to their next class. Students exited in silence. The halls were totally quiet.
These “kids” were adults that day and knew the impact of what had happened. I saw what I often witnessed as a teacher – the intelligence, concern, care and thinking of young people – and was once again reminded that our future was in good hands. Today, those students are 41 or 42 years old contributing to our community.
