LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — While many adults can recall exactly where they were on Sept. 11, 2001, today’s students are learning about the attacks from textbooks — and schools in central Pennsylvania are finding ways to make the lessons personal.
At Northern Lebanon Elementary School, students in kindergarten through sixth grade created hundreds of posters that were displayed around the school playground.
Principal Justin Bruce said the project began with a card sent home with each student.
“We gave every student a little card that they took home, and they were able to decorate for them of what 9/11 meant to them,” Bruce said.
Fourth-grade teacher Mardelle Bouchette said the posters reflected a range of themes, from patriotism to honoring first responders and family connections to public service.
“It can be anything from red, white and blue. It could be honoring the first responder. It could be that their family members or loved ones belong in the fire department or the police station,” Bouchette said.
Bruce said the posters are meant to spark reflection and discussion among students.
“Our kids will take their time going out there and looking at all those things and having conversations about 9/11,” he said.
The school district said its approach to teaching about 9/11 emphasizes compassion, helping students understand both the tragedy and the response that followed.
“You want the youth to understand the tragedy of the day, but you also want them to understand the amount of empathy and resilience and bravery and just selflessness that people had in helping all those people that were affected,” Bouchette said.
Bruce said the school also highlights the acts of kindness and heroism that emerged that day.
“We like to focus on the positive things that that came out of that day, of the kindness and the heroes that went in and helped people,” he said.
With today marking 25 years since 9/11, Bouchette said the passage of time is also changing who needs help connecting to the history — including some educators.
“We are also bridging into that gap where some of our younger teachers, they haven’t lived this firsthand. So, it does help connect all walks of life to understand that we want to remember these victims but also celebrate the good that came out of such a bad tragedy,” she said.