Remembering September 11, 2001

In 6th grade Humanities class, students have been studying the events of 9/11/01 by watching a DVD called “What We Saw.” This film was produced by CBS News. Dan Rather, a retired news anchor, narrates bits of important news coverage from 9/11 and the rescue efforts made in the following days. September 11, 2011 is the second attack on American soil, the first being Pearl Harbor. Many students know very little about the actual event because it did not happen in their lifetime. In order to understand the massive impact that 9/11 had on America and the world, students wrote questions, interviewed an adult that experienced 9/11, and typed up a one-two page response on what they learned. Below are the questions students were assigned in order to solidify the most important aspects of the project:

• What did you learn from the interview process?
• How did this particular perspective add to your knowledge or view of history or of the event?
• In what ways was your interviewee biased or not? Why?
• How do you think the world has changed since 9/11/01?
• How has the interview made you feel about the event? The United States? Other countries?

We are fortunate that Mr. Greg Ruppert, an 8th grade student’s father, was one of the lead FBI investigators on researching the financial funding of the 9/11 terrorists. He is coming to speak to Saklan’s sixth and seventh grade classes on Monday, October 1 from 12:45-1:45 pm. Parents are invited to come see Greg speak about his experience in following the technological money trail and how this helped catch some of the responsible parties.  Please send an email to kparks@saklan.org if you are interested in attending Greg’s presentation.