By: Shelia Mader
For those who lived through September 11, 2001, the memories remain vivid.
They remember where they were, what they were doing and the moment they realized
the United States had been attacked. Today’s students have no such memories. They
had not yet been born.
Sneads High School librarian and teacher Tracy Cloud believes that makes teaching the
history and meaning of September 11 more important than ever.
Cloud was one of only 33 educators selected from across the nation to attend the
weeklong 9/11 Memorial & Museum Institute for Educators in New York City this
summer.
She shared the experience with the Jackson County School Board on September 10,
one day before the nation observed the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
Superintendent Hunter Nolen introduced Cloud as an outstanding librarian and teacher
who has served the district for 31 years.
Cloud said she visits the 9/11 Memorial & Museum whenever she has an opportunity to
travel to New York. During a visit approximately a year and a half ago, she saw
information about the summer institute and decided to apply.
Her husband was not convinced she would be chosen.
“I thought, ‘I want to do that. I want to go,’” Cloud said. “My husband was, ‘Oh, Tracy,
come on. You think you’re really going to be chosen?’”
Cloud spent approximately two weeks completing the three-page, essay-style
application. As the selection period continued, applicants received emails explaining
that the institute had attracted a record number of submissions.
Shortly before school ended, Cloud learned she had been selected.
“You couldn’t tell me nothing,” she said with a laugh.
The 33 participants represented communities across the United States. One American
educator who now teaches in Japan also attended.
Cloud said the program was about more than learning additional facts about Sept. 11.
Its primary purpose was teaching educators how to bring a difficult and emotional
subject into classrooms in an age-appropriate way.
“If I ask everybody in this room where you were 25 years ago, I know every one of you
could tell me,” Cloud said. “Our students today were not even born.”
When Cloud begins teaching the subject, she asks students what they already know.
Their answers may include a plane crash or a bomb, but many lack a clear
understanding of what happened.
“It’s not their fault that they don’t know,” Cloud said. “That makes teaching this history all
the more urgent and important.”
Cloud described the museum as solemn, respectful and sacred. Nearly 3,000 people
were killed in the attacks, and the site serves as a place of remembrance for their
families and the nation.
Spending a week inside the museum allowed Cloud to go behind the scenes and learn
why particular artifacts were selected, how they are preserved and why exhibits are
arranged in specific ways.
She noted the contrast between two areas of the museum.
In one room, illuminated photographs of the victims are displayed prominently. Each
photograph represents a life and a story.
In another room, the images of the hijackers are small, dimly lit and positioned below
eye level. Visitors must physically look down at them.
Cloud learned that those choices were intentional. Museum planners wanted to provide
necessary historical information without giving the terrorists a place of prominence
beside their victims.
“Everything in there was designed with intent,” she said.
The most meaningful part of the institute was meeting those who experienced Sept. 11
firsthand. Participants heard from survivors, first responders, ferryboat captains and
investigators.
Among them was retired New York City firefighter Bill Spade, a member of Rescue
Company 5 on Staten Island.
Spade described the morning as an ordinary Tuesday. Firefighters arrived for work,
shared pastries and joked with one another before receiving word that something was
happening at the World Trade Center.
Twelve members of Rescue 5 responded that day. Spade was the only one who came
home.
Cloud described him as a kind, jovial man who immediately struck her as a “precious
soul.” As he recounted the loss of his fellow firefighters, the pain remained unmistakable
even 25 years later.
“There were days after the session ended where I just had to go back to the hotel and
sit and decompress for a little while,” Cloud said. “Those stories were difficult, and
they’re hard, but we need to hear them.”
Cloud said she considers it an honor to have met Spade, hug him and listened to his
story.
The institute also showed educators how books, artwork, artifacts and hands-on
activities can help students understand a tragedy that occurred before their lifetimes.
The museum’s education area included children’s books, art materials, Lego pieces and
other resources that can introduce difficult subjects to students at different grade levels.
Cloud has long used children’s literature to help students approach complicated topics.
The institute reinforced her belief that students sometimes connect with a person’s story
or a piece of art before they connect with a date in a textbook.
“It doesn’t matter if you teach first grade or 12th,” she said. “There’s a way to approach
the sensitive subjects.”
One of Cloud’s most important realizations was that she needed to begin the lesson
before the morning of the attacks.
Before students can understand what was lost, they need to understand what existed.
The World Trade Center was not simply two towers. The complex contained offices,
restaurants, businesses, a large shopping mall and a major subway hub. More than
50,000 people passed through the area on an ordinary day.
Teaching students about that community helps them understand why it was targeted
and the magnitude of what was taken.
Cloud also plans to extend her lessons beyond September 11.
She wants students to learn about Sept. 12 and the remarkable unity that followed the
attacks. Americans stood together, donated blood, displayed flags and helped strangers
without regard for political or personal differences.
“We were not divided in any way for those next few months,” Cloud said. “We were
Americans helping Americans.”
Cloud remembers bloodmobiles appearing locally and American flags becoming nearly
impossible to find because stores sold out.
“I don’t know that we’ll ever see that unity again in our country,” she said. “I hope we do.
But I want them to know how it was.”
Cloud returned to Sneads with educational resources, personal stories and a renewed
commitment to preserving the lessons of September 11.
“Most importantly, I came home with a stronger desire to make sure that my students
understand why it’s so important that we remember,” she said.
Nolen thanked Cloud for sharing the experience and invited her to pose for a
photograph with an American flag.
For Cloud, however, the most meaningful recognition will come in the classroom. It will
be found each time a student begins to understand not only what happened on
September 11, but also the individual lives behind the numbers, the courage of those
who responded and the unity that carried the nation through the days that followed.
Twenty-five years later, a new generation is being asked to remember something it
never personally witnessed.
Teachers like Tracy Cloud are making sure they understand why they must never forget.