Moving Forward from 9/11: Finding Heroes in Everyday Life

Barbara Knox chooses to focus on the heroes, not the terror of Sept. 11, 2001, and she’s encouraging her students to do the same.

“Life has changed so dramatically,” said the fourth-grade teacher at . “Look at your airport now— even going to Progressive Field, they have to check everyone’s bags.”

Knox was at school on that day 10 years ago, and remembers parents coming to pick up their children and the prayer services that followed the news.

“I still get goose bumps talking about it,” she said.

She remembers the men and women who ran toward the World Trade Center to look for survivors. She uses that scene as a teachable moment for her students.

“People gave up their lives and sacrificed on that day,” Knox said. “We have heroes every day and that’s what I want to focus on. I don’t want to dwell on the tragedy.”

So the students in her class will be looking for a real hero in each of their lives to honor the heroes of the tragedy.

“I want them to really think about what a hero is,” and she describes them as ordinary people, doing extraordinary things.