Remembering 9/11: How the historic event is taught to high school seniors

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — How many of us Monday thought about where we were, how we felt and what we did on September 11th, 22 years ago?

We all have stories.

But on Monday we wanted to talk to people who experience 9/11 from the stories of their parents, their textbooks and teachers. So we got invited into a senior class at Greece Athena.

Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “You can shout it out. What year were you born in?”

Class: “2006. 2005.”

It was the AP Government class at Athena high.

Brean: “Does anyone feel impacted by 9/11?”

Gavin Valachovic, senior: “I almost think it’s more interesting to learn about it so we can learn from it as a whole and prevent it from happening again.”

Grace Campbell was born five years after the attacks. She’s learned it was a turning point in American history.

Grace Campbell, senior: “Where we began to think about things differently and begin to realize that we aren’t as safe as we think and it’s important we remember that.”

Milo Finzer, senior: “From what my parents have told me, things have changed so much.”

“I do remember, very vividly, 9/11,” said teacher Scott Parsons.

Parsons took a moment at the beginning of his class on democracy to talk about 9/11.

Brean: “So how to you talk to them about it and what do you tell them about it?”

Parsons: “I try to explain the facts, what took place, but also tell them what it was like to be around.”

Brean: “What do you want them to understand about that day?”

Parsons: “I want them to understand the significance of what took place, why it took place and then what was our reaction. And we forget about, in the months after, we were such a unified nation. And today it’s quite different and even on a day like today, we don’t give it the deference it deserves.”