Join the Conversation: 9/11 Memorial & Museum Anniversary in the Schools
Join the Conversation: 9/11 Memorial & Museum Anniversary in the Schools
- July 17, 2024
Nicole Torres (center, in denim jacket) and Museum staff members during the 2018 live chat.
With the upcoming 23rd anniversary commemoration and Digital Learning Experience, Nicole Torres, Assistant Manager of Education Programs, guest blogs about interacting with students and teachers during the program's live chat.
During the years I have worked at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, one of the most common challenges among educators is how difficult it is to talk about the 9/11 attacks with students. How do they even begin to address the events of that day, especially with younger generations? To help, the Museum’s Education Department created the Anniversary Digital Learning Experience.
This annual program invites teachers and other educators to view a film highlighting first-person accounts of the attacks and their aftermath and includes an all-day session during which they can connect with Museum staff like me in real time through a live chat. Every year, my colleagues and I come together to prepare and share materials we find helpful for answering tough questions, and then spend the day interacting with students and teachers from all over the world.
As a museum educator, this day is very rewarding because it brings us together and connects us with so many people around the globe. We gather at a roundtable comprised of desks, paired with chairs, laptops, homemade pastries, and lots of coffee. A student or educator clicks the blue chat bubble in the corner of their screen and connects with one of us.
In our conversations with educators, we've shared some surprising facts such as that more victims have now died from 9/11-related illness than were killed that day, and how many women were a part of the Ground Zero rescue efforts. Students tend to be most interested when a connection is made between 9/11 and the world in which they now exist.
These conversations also help guide the ongoing work of the Education Department throughout the year and ultimately help us enhance the Digital Learning Experience for students and teachers in the year ahead.
Register for this year’s 9/11 Anniversary Digital Learning Experience here and don’t forget to click the blue chat bubble to connect with us as you watch!
By Nicole Torres, Assistant Manager of Education Programs
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