Washington Primary School’s 375 students are an intelligent, considerate and altogether hardworking and respectful bunch. They are already busy learning lessons that will serve them well as they move forward with their education and lives.
The youngsters, who are spread across kindergarten through third grade were born many years after that terrible day when terrorists struck and crashed planes into the World Trade Center, bringing down the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 and killing thousands of innocent men and women.
But while the children are too young to have witnessed coverage of the shocking events of that day, they are completely capable of learning what happened and trying to make sense of it all and also admiring the exceptional courage displayed during those hours.
“Washington Primary School paused to remember September 11, 2001,” Principal Michelle Richards said. “At 10 a.m. last Friday, the students, faculty and staff watched and listened to a read aloud of Mordicai Gerstein’s picture book ‘The Man Who Walked Between the Towers.’ While the current students were not alive during the devastating events of that day, they were able to learn about one of the saddest days in American and world history.”
Students and staff were spellbound while watching the film and listening. “After the viewing of the read aloud, students placed American flags along the front path of the school. These flags help us remember the lives lost in New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania as well those who succumbed to illnesses related to the day.”
Students learned about what motivated the hijackers to seize control of the four airplanes on the morning of 9/11 and about the terrible loss of life in New York City and Washington, DC and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when passengers and crew members overtook the hijackers and prevented the plane from being crashed into the US Capitol.
“Washington Primary School is a place where we accept everyone, demonstrate empathy and practice kindness every day,” Dr. Richards said.