Where Were You On 9/11?

Teachers recall in vivid detail the most infamous event in recent American history

Rin Swann, Reporter

They all remember. They will never forget. These are the stories of some of the NASH faculty on where they were that fateful day.

“I remember looking at the TV and thinking, “What movie has a plane hitting the towers?” And they looked at me and they said “No, this is live…” I had tried to reach out to my husband but all the phone systems and email system were crashing. He wasn’t working. I just wanted to hear his voice… I can’t tell you what I did last weekend, what I was wearing or what I did but I remember that day. I’m getting emotional even talking about it… There weren’t planes for weeks. Everybody was just quiet. In the hallways, it was quiet. It was a long time before we all felt normal again.” -Ms. Volpe

“I worked for KDKA television at that time, so on that morning I was driving into work, listening to Howard Stern, and heard about the first plane that went in. Everyone at that time thought it was a horrible accident. But when I went in to work and the news crew was going crazy, I knew it was much, much more.” -Ms. Smith

“Walking through the cafeteria, we used to have TVs up there. In classrooms and and down there. Walking by, I saw it, and it had already happened. And that made me stop there and watch it there for a while and then I came back up and most teachers turned it on. And we followed it.” -Mr. Greenleaf

“I was checking my mail in the cafeteria and saw the two towers on fire. And the rest of the day, my students and I watched it unfold. I remember telling them they shouldn’t worry about their parents in downtown Pittsburgh because they were attacking New York and Washington DC. Then the news came out that a plane went down in Pennsylvania. We experienced such a depth of pain and despair that day and I will always remember the students I shared it with. -Ms. Morris

“I was standing exactly where I’m standing now, in my classroom… I was watching it on TV and I saw Mr. Walkowiak and told him to come see this. We watched the second tower fall together.” -Mr. Maddix

“I was still in grade school and I was on a field trip. They brought us back early and they wouldn’t tell us about what happened. When we got back to school, most of the kids went home and they still wouldn’t tell us anything because we were young but we knew something was wrong. I remember watching the news with my mom all night long, over and over. And I remember a lot of people thinking they had to go into the military. But we were still so young. I don’t think I realized the magnitude of it until I got older.” -Mr. Schmiech

“There was a bustle in the hall, a little bit of activity, and I remember going into Ms. Keats’ room and saying, I think something happened. Can I turn your TV on? And I remember, as soon as I turned the TV on, the second plane hit the south tower.” -Mr. Lyons

“I was actually in Melbourne, Australia, and for me, everything occurred at night. It was around ten at night and I had a friend down the hallway who always played pranks on me knock on my door while I was on the phone with my mother. As he knocked on the door, he said, “Hey, a plane just flew into the World Trade Center.” And I looked at him and said, “Not now man, I’m talking to my mom.” And he looked at me and said, “I’m not kidding this time.” And I didn’t believe him. So I asked my mom to turn on the television and she did, and she said, “Jamey, he’s right…”
-Mr. Pirring

“I was here and some kids came running in and said, “The towers have been hit in New York City — can we watch it?” And I said, “What are you talking about? I don’t know, I don’t know!” And then I realized everyone in the building was watching the TV. It was period 4 and we all watched it live.” -Ms. Schmiech

“I was here, teaching a lab, and I caught it on the TV and one of my students, whose dad was in New York at the time, was supposed to be in one of the towers, but he wasn’t so he was ok. It’s a really vivid memory.”  -Mr. DiBucci

“I was in room 320 A, in class, and Mr. Lyons came in and said, “They just hit the World Trade Center.” We immediately turned on the TV.” -Mr. Gressly