This past week was the anniversary of the tragedy of 9/11. Many people experienced this day across the U.S. in multiple different ways.

Many teachers and employees alike had similar experiences of September 11. 

Mr. Colin McAndrew, an English teacher at Villa Maria Academy, recalls the sadness he felt watching the Twin Towers fall on that horrific day. 

“On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was at school and in Eucharistic Minster Training,” Mr. McAndrew said. “Shortly following the first plane hitting the North Tower, a Campus Ministry employee interrupted us in the chapel to explain what had happened⁠—what happened was uncertain at this point—and sent us back to our classrooms to watch the news.”

Mr. McAndrew says recalling these details causes him to become choked up. 

“By my second period 90-minute class, there wasn’t a TV not turned on in the building,” he said. “I saw the South Tower fall in real time. Our desks were moved out of the way in order to hold hands in a circle and pray. I can remember that my emotions oscillated between intense overwhelm (and tears) and numbness that day, and for weeks and months to follow.”

Mrs. Jennifer Tucker, another teacher at Villa Maria Academy, recalls her equally despairing experience of the day.

“On 9/11/01, I was in my second week of my first year of teaching,” Mrs. Tucker said. “I worked in a high school in Delaware named Caesar Rodney High School, and it was located just a few minutes from an air force base, so many of my students had parents that worked in the military.”

Mrs. Tucker said the day began as a normal Tuesday morning before tragedy struck. 

“Then when we heard that a plane hit one of the World Trade Centers, all classrooms turned on their TVs to watch the news,” she said. “It was then that we all watched the second plane hit the second tower, and we were all overwhelmed with disbelief and uncertainty as to what was taking place.”

As news broke about the planes hitting the Pentagon and crashing in Shanksville, PA, students became increasingly concerned as many of the students had parents who traveled by plane often. 

“I remember that they sent the entire student body and faculty home around 11:00 that morning so that people could locate and check up on family,” Mrs. Tucker said.

Many family members and friends of those who died attended the 9/11 memorial for the 20th anniversary of the day. Names were read aloud and those who died were honored. They will be honored and not forgotten for years to come.