Facing 9/11 at Scarsdale High School

Scarsdale High School students commemorated 9/11 with two assemblies on September 9th. Tracy Garrison Feinberg from Facing History and Ourselves was invited by the student government to speak about the events of September 11th on the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

“How quickly our understanding of the world changed that day,” said Ms. Feinberg, addressing the students as she began her story of how she was affected by 9/11. Ms. Feinberg described the beautiful, crisp blue skies that morning, and how she was planning to complete plans for her wedding, which was scheduled for the end of that fateful week. Unfortunately, or fortunately, she was sick that day and opted to stay home. Her husband-to-be was supposed to leave early that day to pick up a few things at Century 21 near the World Trade Center, but decided to stay home with her. Had he stuck to his original schedule he would have been right around ground zero when tragedy struck.

The two were watching Good Morning America when at 8:46 am the program was interrupted with a report that there was something wrong at the World Trade Center. Initially, no one knew what had happened. But In the next twenty minutes when subsequent planes hit the other tower and the Pentagon, they knew it was a terrorist attack.

Ms. Feinberg also remembered her “happy and delightful” friend Debbie Welsh who used to walk her dog around wearing a big full coat, Ms. Feinberg laughed as she reminisced about calling Welsh “Cruella De Vil” from 101 Dalmatians. Debbie was a flight attendant on Flight 93, the plane that was hijacked and crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Debbie Welsh was a beloved friend of Ms. Feinberg and her loss was heart-breaking.

Ms. Feinberg and Ms. Welsh’s stories were only two of the many told at the assembly, including stories high school students shared from their own experiences. One student remembered her father covered in dust walking away from the site while another recalled watching and re-watching the videos of the towers collapse. Others recollected heroic neighbors lost in the disaster and recounted their own concerns about how to comfort their sullen parents.

Tracy Garrison Feinberg’s powerful message to the students was that as we move forward, we must always remember the lives lost, the heroes, and the events of September 11th, 2001, for they changed our nation forever.

Teacher and Student Government Advisor Neil Ginsberg said, “The assembly provided the students with an opportunity to learn a little bit about what happened and how individuals felt about the events of 9 11. The students were quite attentive and were discussing the ideas as they were walking out. It also gave them ideas on doing service for others. But, better than the assembly, the discussions in many classes afterwards, once again, showed the way our teachers made the most of the moment.”

Contributor Sunny Feinstein is in her junior year at Scarsdale High School