9-11

​I was teaching high school in the DC suburbs. It was my planning period and my co-worker came to my room and said to turn on the tv. We thought at first it was a weird airplane accident…then the Pentagon got hit.

We were tasked with going to the classrooms and telling teachers who were teaching quietly what had happened. And then say to kids “if your parents work at the Pentagon, go to the office and call them.” Of course, no one knew the phones were out.

One of my classes was a diverse mix of ESOL students.

Within an hour, the Muslim students were getting called names and getting blamed. Girls came into the class crying, saying “we didn’t do this.”

Then the twin towers fell. That completely silenced everyone.