DV Staff reflects on 9/11

Mrs. Maino reflects on her experience during the 9/11 attacks

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Photo by Aidan McBride

Mrs. Maino, French Teacher

Q: Where were you when you first heard the breaking news of the towers being hit?

A: I was in my third year of teaching and I was in the hallway going to the faculty room. A co-worker came up to me and said, “The towers were hit, they just hit the towers.” The planes were flying into the twin towers at that point.

Q: What was your initial reaction to your co-worker breaking the news to you?

A: [It was] unbelievable and very upsetting, obviously. However, nobody knew what was going on at the time until the news started breaking later.

Q: Were you or any of your loved ones directly impacted by these events?

A: Not directly. I had co-workers who were affected. I also had a student later on in my career who was the daughter of the late Doug Miller, a FDNY firefighter.

Q: As it comes up on 20 years, many kids were not alive during this event. How do you think the impact of this day should be passed on to generations to come?

A: I believe that by remembering through history classes and the lessons that are taught in the social studies rooms, the news coverage and hopefully field trips in the future could extend their knowledge of that. You guys weren’t even alive when it happened, and until you experience something large like this, it is hard to get a grasp on. I think we should definitely continue to create opportunities for students to learn about this event because it is very important to us historically.