Never forget \u2014 even if you weren\u2019t around to remember. <\/p>\n
The City Council is investing an incredible $1 million scholarship fund to educate the Big Apple\u2019s youngest on the world-shattering tragedy of Sept.11, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n
The major education investment will benefit the 9\/11 Memorial & Museum<\/a> in expanding its programs \u2014 specifically targeting those who were not alive when the largest terror attack on US soil unfolded.<\/p>\n The City Council is investing $1 million into educational programs at the September 11 Memorial & Museum. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about teaching the next generation,\u201d City Council Speaker Julie Menin<\/a> told The Post. \u201cIn the days and weeks after 9\/11, the city was really unified. <\/p>\n \u201cYou felt that unity, and there were so many heroic acts from first responders and from everyday New Yorkers, and it\u2019s really a focus of trying to remind young people what the events of 9\/11 meant, what the terrorists tried to take away from our city and our country,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an educational initiative to ensure that this next generation is fully aware of what transpired on 9\/11, and all of the different acts of heroism, the loved ones that were lost, and the rebuilding efforts as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Menin will formally announce the major investment at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Memorial Thursday \u2014 a week ahead of the 25th anniversary of the dark day.<\/p>\n The money was secured as part of the city\u2019s Fiscal Year 2027 Budget <\/a>and will greatly expand the reach of the 9\/11 Memorial & Museum as more and more generations of students become physically further and further removed from the terror attacks.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an educational initiative to ensure that this next generation is fully aware of what transpired on 9\/11, and all of the different acts of heroism, the loved ones that were lost, and the rebuilding efforts as well,\u201d said Menin. Bolivar Arellano\/NY Post<\/p>\n Nearly one-third of Americans alive today were born after Sept.11, 2001, and millions more were too young at the time to remember the day firsthand, according to the museum.<\/p>\n A whopping 75% of the money is dedicated to funding free field trips to the museum for the city\u2019s 20,000 public school eighth graders.<\/p>\n Each audio-guided field trip can cost upward of $23 per student \u2014 a cost that is priceless when it comes to hearing the victims\u2019 final calls to loved ones, seeing the charred remains of FDNY rescue engines and feeling the thousands of names etched into the reflecting pools.<\/p>\n The tragedy \u2014 and the incredible unity and rebuild in the following years \u2014 is integral to the fabric of New York culture, even for those who weren\u2019t there to witness it, the speaker emphasized.<\/p>\n Most of the funds will make free field trips available to New York City\u2019s eighth grade students. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to make sure that more young New Yorkers have the opportunity to come to the memorial, to experience the Memorial & Museum firsthand, to hear the stories of family members, of first responders, and to understand why Sept.11th is very important to always remember and to never forget,\u201d Menin said.<\/p>\n Roughly $250,000 of the funding will go directly toward the museum\u2019s virtual educational programming to reach students well beyond the five boroughs, including virtual field trips for students not able to be there physically and for providing educational materials for teachers looking to reflect on the tragedy within their classrooms. <\/p>\n The 9\/11 Memorial & Museum, for years, has run a series of workshops, conferences and trainings for teachers<\/a> of grades 3 through 12, and will launch this year a live program on the 25th anniversary.<\/p>\n