U.S. educators praise 'Teach to Remember 9/11' program

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. — Twenty years ago when the Flight 93 National Memorial site was a temporary monument to the victims of the United Airlines plane that crashed there on Sept. 11, 2001, Mechanicsburg Middle School teacher Scott Marsh brought his students to the powerful location.

He's kept up that tradition every year since as a stop on the group's annual eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C.

Now, the social studies educator is taking part in the new "Teach to Remember 9/11" virtual program offered by the Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial and the National Parks Service as part of the evolving 9/11 ceremony at the Shanksville site.

Marsh said he signed up, alongside 14,000 other learners from 250 schools in 23 states and Canada, for the offering because he's seen firsthand how impactful learning the stories from Flight 93 and the other attack sites can be.

"The stories that come out of 9/11 show how normal people can help one another in a time of crisis and trauma," the teacher said. "Through empathy, we can learn about the lives of those who put others before themselves and maybe see the events of that day through their eyes."

Marsh said that the human connection of those tales hold a deep meaning for students "learning about the passengers and crew of Flight 93 or firemen in New York City or even everyday people sacrificing their own safety to help others."

"The lesson of 9/11 is that we are all capable of showing love, compassion and sacrifice when we are called upon to act," he said.

"Teach to Remember" was created this year to offer educators across the country resources to introduce their students to the landmark day in United States history.

"This is really the first year that we've been able to make the education from the memorial more of a focus and so we've been really coordinating the efforts this year to ... provide these resources more so than ever before," Flight 93 Chief of Interpretation Adam Shaffer said.

He worked with Friends group Executive Director Donna Gibson to create a curriculum for sixth- through 12th-graders.

Gibson said the idea to launch a nationwide offering came from a recent memorial service in which few youngsters were in attendance.

"We kind of brainstormed and talked about what if we did a platform where we could take the education to the world," she said.

That led to a planned livestream of this year's Flight 93 service along with virtual offerings, such as interviews with family members, a video gallery of ranger tours of memorial features, investigation of the crime scene and a pre-recorded moment of remembrance for those unable to view the live stream on the NPS Youtube account.

These digital tools will be available on the Zoom platform through December before being moved to the National Park Service website with links on Friends of Flight 93 website as well.

Gibson said she has spoken to teachers and found a lack of curriculum accessible for them, which is the gap "Teach to Remember" will help fill.

"It's hard to place a value on it because this subject hasn't been fully developed for students," Shaffer said. "It's not consistently taught across our nation yet — it's recent history. It's difficult history."

Marsh described Sept. 11, 2001, as "a transcendent moment for me and my students' parents' generation."

"It changed the world that we all knew and ushered in a very different reality for our children — even though they don't realize it, because it is what they've always known," Marsh said.

He noted that there's a generation of students that have no memory of the terrorist attacks from 22 years ago.

Chris Elliot, a teacher at Tenaya Elementary in Groveland, California, said when he brings up "9/11" his students respond with information on emergency services, having no knowledge of that historic day.

That's why he's worked lessons on Sept. 11 into his curriculum in the past.

However, he hasn't always been able to find reliable resources, and in a search to curate this year's lesson, he discovered the Flight 93 curriculum and gladly signed up.

"This program is going to be an amazing opportunity," he said.

Elliot, who's 26, was about 5 years old at the time of the attacks and said he barely remembers those events.

Knowing that his students weren't alive at the time puts an emphasis on the need to share that history with them.

"Finding ways to connect those events to things they can envision is my goal," Elliot said.

Marsh started working the story of 9/11 into lessons in preparation of the annual U.S. capital trip.

"But the lessons from such an important moment in our recent past come up often throughout the year because my students can connect with the stories so well and the lessons echo from other times in our past," he said.

That's why he signed his students up for the "Teach to Remember" program.

"I see how my students respond to the stories of the passengers and crew of Flight 93," Marsh said.

"I know that learning more from the wonderful people from Friends of Flight 93 and the Flight 93 National Memorial will stay with them and resonate in the other aspects of their lives."

Although this is the first year for the program, Gibson said plans are already in place to make "Teach to Remember" an annual offering with new information and aspects added every year.

For more information, visit www.flight93- friends.org/education/teach2remember.