SNOW HILL – History lessons at Snow Hill Middle School this month focused on giving students a better understanding of 9/11.
Twenty-two years after the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, teachers at Snow Hill Middle made an effort last week to give their students an idea of what the event meant to the United States.
“Part of the history curriculum is to teach current events,” Principal Matthew Record said. “That includes acts of bravery and reasons for remembrance.”
Eighth grade students at Snow Hill High School spent Sept. 11 learning about events that happened before they were born in September of 2001. Social studies teacher Brendan Rogalski said many of his students had heard of 9/11 from their parents. Aware that they may have heard of the tragedy anecdotally, he makes sure to cover the specifics of the terrorist attacks during his class.
“Younger students these days were not alive,” he said. “Many of them have heard about it from their parents. We try to cover the facts in class.”
After their lesson, which included some key video clips of the news coverage relating to the plane crashes, middle school students discussed and reflected upon the tragedy.
“I gave them the opportunity to speak about how they felt about what they saw,” Rogalski said.
Eighth grader Matthew Age, who knew about the 9/11 plane crashes before this year’s lesson, said he was surprised by the amount of smoke videos showed covering New York City.
“It touched many lives,” classmate A-Leigh Daniels said.
Age was also struck by the sadness of the attacks and the impact they had on so many people.
“It’s good for people to know what happened,” he said. “It’s an important day and a lot of people lost their loved ones.”
Record said teachers at Snow Hill Middle School used a variety of primary sources to teach students about historical events, including 9/11. He said it was critical that students had access to accurate information as they learned about key historical events.
“Our kids have walked away with a better understanding of what happened and why it happened,” Record said.
He said that as young adults, middle school students were at the right age to begin expanding their knowledge of U.S. history.
“We’re dealing with young adults who are starting to experience the real world,” he said, adding that lessons like this one helped further their understanding of historical events. “This is a sad day but it’s a day of remembrance and bravery.”
