9/11 Tribute Museum’s Annual Teacher Awards

On Monday, February 26, 2018, Doug DePice, Melissa Heintjes, and Amanda Wargocki were awarded the 9/11 Tribute Museum’s Annual Teacher Awards. They received one gift in the amount of $500.00 donated by the Terence D. Gazzani 9/11 Scholarship Fund. This award is being given in recognition of teachers who have made an outstanding effort to discuss the events of September 11th with their students and to create projects that helped students understand their contemporary relationship to this history.

Project Description:
Our teaching objective was multifaceted, designed to inspire students to “Think Higher and Feel Deeper” in order to make an emotional connection to this historic tragedy. We created an interdisciplinary approach to teaching about the events of 9/11. We taught using the vantage point of the Survivor Tree to extract imaginative analogies. The students were required to imagine the experience of that day as if they were the tree. Our themes for the Survivor Tree stories were remembrance, rebirth and resilience.

We feel this higher-level thinking prepares students for future leadership and global citizenship roles in society. We hypothesize that this approach to learning nurtures students’ open-focus skills and allows them to embrace pressing global issues. This methodology of teaching and learning enables students to develop the skills needed for future job markets: cooperation, collaboration, communication and creative-problem solving.

 

In addition to the award, HBO took notice of this amazing project and decided to feature it into a 9/11 education documentary that is being produced. On March 6, HBO visited SHS and SMS and filmed students and teachers in the art room. HBO producers were very impressed with the school and particularly the student's work. HBO hopes to have the documentary ready for September 11, 2018.