Columbia High School students read a newspaper from September 12, 2001 as part of a U.S. History lesson about 9/11.
As time passes, and events become more and more a part of history, it is natural that they can be forgotten, especially for people who did not live through them. But that won’t happen for Columbia High School students.
On every Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance, observed each year on September 11, students in Social Studies classes taught by Jeff Tooker learn about the terrorist attack of 9/11.
Columbia Social Studies Teacher Jeff Tooker teaching a lesson about 9/11 in his U.S. History class on Wednesday afternoon.
Whether U.S. History, Economics or Criminal Justice, Mr. Tooker’s students learned about 9/11 on Wednesday, how emergency responders and regular citizens reacted, and some of the long term effects in each of those subject areas.
Students used primary source documents by reading old newspapers that had been laminated before answering questions on their chromebooks.
The questions focused on how 9/11 was portrayed in the media, how will 9/11 be memorialized going forward, and the human nature of helping others in an emergency.
Mr. Tooker played a local news story on the smart board that showed Capital Region residents lining up at the American Red Cross on Everett Road on September 11, 2001, so they could donate blood. Then he played a short documentary titled “Boatlift” that told the story of the largest water evacuation in American history in which 500,000 people were transported safely off of Manhattan on 9/11.
The lesson educated students about 9/11 but also challenged them to think beyond the classroom.
“I think it is important to reflect upon the events of September 11, 2001 and not focus solely on the events themselves, but shine a light on those who did something to help,” Mr. Tooker said. “Having a discussion of the importance of ‘service above self’ will hopefully spur our young adults to reflect upon the positive effects of sharing their time and talents with others in order to make our communities a better place.”
View this post on Instagram