US-Sept 11-Education

September 8, 2026 - 05:10

A group of educators gathered recently at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania for a special training session. The goal was simple but difficult: how to teach the events of September 11, 2001, to children who were born years after the attacks.

Among the participants was Martha "Marty" Runzer, a former United Airlines flight attendant who now teaches fifth grade. She listened carefully as park rangers and historians walked the teachers through the story of Flight 93, the passengers who fought back, and the crash site in a rural field near Shanksville.

For Runzer and many others in the room, the lesson is personal. She was working in aviation on the day of the attacks and remembers the fear and confusion that followed. Now she stands in front of a classroom where most students have only a vague idea of what happened. They know the date. They know the towers fell. But the details, the voices, the weight of that morning, are distant to them.

The training is part of a broader effort by the National Park Service and memorial staff to help teachers handle the difficult task of covering 9/11 in an age-appropriate way. The sessions focus on primary sources, survivor stories, and the importance of listening before speaking. Teachers are encouraged to let students ask questions without judgment and to guide them through the emotions that come with learning about loss and heroism.

For Runzer, the challenge is also about bridging a gap. She wants her students to understand that history is not just dates in a book. It is something people lived through. And sometimes, those people are standing right in front of them.