The Day the Towers Fell

Author's Note: Today's post was originally published on September 8, 2021 on what was then the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack. This year, we mark the 25th anniversary of this horrible day. It has been lightly updated and republished today to reflect that quarter of a century mark. 

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I was backstage at Beckman High School working in the costume shop when the high school principal announced over the PA system that an airplane had struck the World Trade Center. It was a very warm, in fact very beautiful fall day. At first I thought it odd the principal would make such an announcement. The band was outside on the football field working through their drill for the game on Friday night. Truth be told, it was a perfect fall day; and one that would completely unravel. I remember the frantic calls to Ann as the morning unfolded, all while wondering what would happen next as the FAA took the unprecedented step of grounding every aircraft flying over or on the way to the United States. 

We had only been married a couple of years at that point. I still have a picture from our honeymoon, one with Ann sitting on a small ledge when we visited Ellis Island. The Twin Towers framed behind her. That was in August of 1999, a photo that to me has become a treasured, and in my view quite iconic piece of American history.

Each year on this most solemn of days I recall with precision the events of September 11, 2001. At the time I was a vocal music teacher in Dyersville and had first hour prep. Indeed I have vivid memories of where I was and what I was doing when first learning of the attack. As I mentioned above, I was in the costume shop in the theatre department trying to figure out where to put a donation of clothing that we had no intention of ever using. When first hearing the news, I thought it was probably one of those little Cessna's that got off course. At the time none of us knew it was an attack, thinking it must have been some sort of terrible accident. It didn't take long for those benign reasons to fade when I watched in shock as the second plane struck the south tower on live television; and at that precise moment understanding with unequivocal clarity that yes, we were most certainly under attack. And also in that moment unaware that it would get much, much worse when those towers fell. 

Instruction stopped that day. As teachers we worked hard to keep our students calm. They asked questions. How could this happen, we have two oceans protecting us? Is Iowa next? We had no answers.

I am a bit surprised that I can still recall these details with as much clarity as I can. Because it has been 25 years. Twenty-five years! Indeed the years fly by. I was a young man then and the world as it was on September 10th was not the world we would wake up to on September 11th. The fact is, that world no longer exists. All of the students we are serving in our classrooms, and many of them who now work for use don't know what the world was like on September 10, 2001.

In the intervening years as the anniversary approached we would mark the milestones along the way: the year the 9/11 'babies' went to kindergarten. When they graduated. On this 25th year of remembrance I find a couple of things quite striking. First, there is not one student in our school who was even alive on that horrific day. The second, and perhaps more interesting [at least to me] is the generational divide amongst our faculty and staff. More and more of our faculty is made up of those who were too young to recall this event, and in fact there are those who are now teaching in our classrooms who hadn't even born yet. While there were many of us who were busily at work, teaching school and going about our day: a growing number of our ranks were in diapers and blissfully unaware of what was going on around them. 

America's longest war has come to an end. It will be up to history to decide how this chapter of our story is portrayed. But no matter what, we must honor the sacrifices of so many men and women who gave their lives in service. Who vowed to hold those responsible who attacked us. 

As is the case each year, there will be numerous documentaries on television about this day. Some old, some new. If you are too young to remember, please don't scroll past them with your remote. Watch them. Ask one of your colleagues to share their memories of that day. And for those of us who were there, I would encourage you to watch as well. Talk about this day with your students. Its important that we #NeverForget.

Safety Week!

The beginning of the school year is filled with developing routines. It may seem like a pretty simple thing, but teaching kindergarten kids how to 'line up' is quite humorous to watch! And going through the lunch line? Yikes! Yet, slowly but surely they get it figured out and before you know it, it becomes second nature. It's all about practicing and developing routines. 

Some of the routines that we practice at the beginning of the school year are focused on our emergency response systems. These include fire drills, tornado drills, and bus evacuation procedures. These drills are all about speed. How quickly can we evacuate the building in the event of a fire? How quickly can we get all the high school kids into the storm shelter or the elementary kids in the basement? It has become a bit of a competition between the attendance centers to see who can execute the evolution the quickest! Bus evacuations are not so much about speed, but rather a demonstration of where the safety exits are located, and practicing exiting out the back door of the school bus in a safe manner. Our practice is to conduct these drills twice each semester, in compliance with Iowa Code.

Ove the past two weeks, we have been preparing for 'safety week', which will be next week. This is when we'll take time to have age appropriate discussions and drills with our students on what our processes and procedures are in place in the event we have to execute a mass evacuation. We'll go over evacuation routes, different scenarios, and the ALICE procedures that have been in place at Hudson for a number of years. For our younger students, teachers will be guided by the book, I'm Not Scared...I'm Prepared. 

Now, most of you had the opportunity to see our plan in action in January when we had to evacuate the campus due to a natural gas leak adjacent to the high school. Because we had a plan in place with evacuation routes, primary relocation sites and secondary relocation sites, the whole evolution unfolded pretty well. For a refresher on what happened that day, please check out my blog article from January 15: When Theory Meets Practice. 

As Mr. Bell stated at a staff meeting last week, that evacuation went very well. But, he also cautioned us to remember that the circumstances at play that afternoon were about as perfect as one could anticipate. At the same time, the process that unfolded that day helped us recognize areas where we can improve our plan. Those improvements have been incorporated into our plan. 

I used to think that executing drills: be it tornado, fire, bus evacuation, or ALICE, were merely checking a box to ensure compliance. Once upon a time I believed that spending money on safety equipment, supplies for the buckets, and wayfinding signs for our reunification site was money better spent on instructional supplies. I thought we were spending a lot of time and effort during our administrative team meetings planning for the very unlikely event that something was going to happen. I no longer feel that way.

You can be assured that we take school safety and security incredibly seriously. Our drills are conducted in a manner to evaluate them for flaws, look for ways to improve the process, and test the systems. Next week is safety week, where students will discuss our ALICE procedures. If you have any questions or concerns about our safety plans or procedures, please don't hesitate to reach out.