KINGSVILLE, Texas — How are teachers teaching students who weren’t born before 9/11? How do they explain an event that shocked the nation 20 years ago?
A U.S. history teacher at H.M. King High School said the majority of her students are juniors and have a hard time grasping what America was like before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Beatriz Rabe has been teaching U.S. history for seven 7 years at H.M. King Early College High School and said the way she teaches her students about 9/11 is first by showing them a video so they know the facts, followed by a discussion.
“The assignment is for them to interview someone in their 30’s, 40’s. You know it’s a primary source," Rabe said. "They hear it straight from someone who was there and how they were feeling about it."
Students in Rabe’s class recall the first time they were taught about 9/11.
“I didn’t knew what was going on," said senior Dorian Arredondo.
“I was probably in like first or second grade and they showed us a video of it but I didn’t really know what they were talking about, I was just like, oh," said junior Averie Ruff.
“It was scary but you just gotta know like be aware of your surroundings. Have to watch your back," said sophomore Leriya Garza.
Rabe said then the next time the students meet, they will have a discussion about who they interviewed to showcase the different perspectives of how people remember 9/11 and what they have learned.
“I learned that people come from different backgrounds, that people have different agendas," Arredondo said. "There’s hate in the world. That everybody is not so good to each other which we can change and we should change."
But it doesn’t stop there. Rabe said they learn about 9/11 and its causes and effects in further detail during the spring semester.
“That’s the beauty of history and so for my students, we open up our course by looking at the importance of history," Rabe said. "It's about making people better more informed."
