1. I've been
teaching now
going on 13
years and in all
honesty there is
only one day
that stands
out for me.
There
were a lot of
little moments
here and there
that I felt
particularly
proud or sad,
but...
...one day
that I can
isolate as my
best day is also
probably my worst
day was within my
first week in a
half of
teaching.
I had my own
classroom. I
had 35 kids in my
freshman English
class.
It was a
beautiful
sunny
morning.
September
11, 2001.
Mary's Best Day

2. I was
teaching at
Kellenberg
Memorial High
School, which is a
catholic prepratory
high school in
Long Island.
On a
clear day, if
you are standing
on the roof of the
building, you can
see a little bit of
the New York
City skyline.
It was
a hot day
and our
principal was
very strict
about the kids
not taking off
their
blazers.
So when
the bell for
the intercom
had rung...
...the kids
automaticallly
thought that brother
Ken, our principal was
going to tell us that
we could take our
blazers off.

3. And I said,
"Wait! Wait! We
don't know what
the announcement
is yet.
Brother Ken
came on and I
could tell that
he was struggling
to think for
himself about
what to say.
And the
announcement
was: "two planes
have crashed into the
World Trade Center.
We don't have any
other information
at this time."
And that was
the
announcement

4. Andimmediately I
thought if it was just
one plane I could see
how maybe it was anaccident.
Maybe some guy
in a Cessna went
off course and
made a grave
error.
But two
planes?...That
sounded
strange.
And
the
students in my
room had facial
expressions
similar to the one
I have now--
just
confusion.
Sheer
confusion.

5. And
there was a
moment of
silence...
And then a
couple of kids
shouted out:
"Two planes?
How is that
possible?"
And the
class broke out
in a
cacophony..
.
One girl--
I don't
remember her
name, but she
had brown
curly hair and
was sitting toward
the back of the
class said: "Wait!
My dad works in
the World
Trade
Center!"

6. I don't know
what happened
to me, but in the
snap of a finger
I was on.
I said,
"Okay,
everybody, sit
down, calm
down..."
I have a
radio...
And if you
are quiet and if
you listen and you
don't panic, we'll
listen to the radio
and find out what
is going on.

7. So I
turned on the
radio and
turned to an AM
radio station
that I knew
broadcasted
news.
And we
listened to
a reporter
for about
three
minutes.
And
suddenly
he said: "For
all intents
we do believe
this is a
terrorist
attack."
We are
under
attack.

8. And at that
moment I
thought it was a
good idea to
shut off the
radio
I
didn't
havepermissionto turn onthe radio. Idin't know ifit was a
good
idea.
I'd only
been
teaching for
a week.
This
was not
something
my teacher
preparation
program had
set me up
for.
It was all...
Instinct.

9. And so I
shut the
radio off. The
kids were
sitting...
And
because it
was a
catholic
school....
and it
seemed
appropriate
at the
time...
I said,
"All Right,
guys,
let's...let's
pray. Let's
say Hail
Mary.
Let's hope
for the
best.

10. And we said
a hail mary.
And I
went
through the
rest of my
lesson until
the end of
the
period.
I don't
know if that
was the right
thing to
do...
but I felt
like I had to
keep going.

11. So after the
period was over
there was 4
minutes of
passing time in
the hallway.
I stepped
outside and met with
my colleagues, and
we all had the same
confused look on
our faces.
I mean,
this was 2001.
We all had
cellphones, but
nobody was sending
text messages, nobody
was on the Intenet.
Nobody had looked
at a television.

12. 2nd period
came in and we
talked briefly
about what had
happened 1st
period.
There had
been no other
announcements
at that point.
So I
proceeded
with my
lesson for
second
period.
Almost
like
autopilot, if
you will.
It was like
I knew what
I had to do in
my head and I
just kept
going.

13. 3rd period I
had free and that
was the first time I
saw what was
really going
on.
Images of
smoke rising
from the tops
of the trade
center--both
buildings.
Fire....People
falling from the
windows...
...Just
leaping out of
the windows to
their death.
It was
all on
camera right
in front of
us.
Confused
newscasters
narrating
through it.
It was
during that
period that the
first tower
fell.

14. And I think we
were all still
really in shock
about what was
going on.
While that
faculty room is
usually bustling
and noisy and
everyone is having
coffee, chit-
chatting, working
on lesson plans,
grading
papers...
Everybody
was just
glued to this
tiny TV that we
had in the
corner.

15. I
didn;t have
anybody in
the city at
that time.
Except a few friends
from college and I
had a feeling that they
would have been okay.
Nobody worked in the
Wrld Trade Center that
I knew of
But During
the period I
was summoned
down to the
main office.

16. Apparantly,
a student who
was in my
homeroom had
his mom come up
to school to
come pick him
up.
He had left
his soccer gear
in my classroom,
which was not
unusual. I often
let them do
that.
His name
was Connor
Gergahty.

17. Connor
was one of my
favorite 9th
graders.
Just
bubbly and
energetic and
cute with
freckles.
You
can tell
that he was
going to be a,
like, a
popular
kid.
Everybody
liked him.

18. Mrs.
Gergahty
needed to
get into the
classroom
to get
connor's
things.
It
wasn't
unusual.
People were
coming to the
school to
take the
kids out.
In
fact I
spent the
rest of my
prep periods
that day
running
passes.
Just hanging out at
the main office, getting
passes for kids whose
parents had come to school
to pick them up, getting
them out of class and
getting thm out of the
building.

19. Mrs.
Gergahty came
to my home-room
with me and she
picked up Connor's
soccer gear
and ... she said :
"Connor, go
to your locker
and get your
things, we're
going to go
home."
And
she turned
to me and I
could tell she
was also trying
to hold it
together...

20. And
she said,
"My husband
is FDNY.
Battalion
Chief...."
Sorry.
This part
always gets
me...I'll be
okay.
"My
husband is
a battalion
chief and he
works down
there..."
"And his
firehouse was
the first to
respond."
And
she said,
"I heard
from him
when he was
on his way,
but I haven't
heard from
him since."
And her
face was a
little red,
and she was
trying to
hold back
tears.

21. And I
could
tell that
she was
trying not to
cry in front
of her
son.
And
she said,
"I don't
know what to
tell
connor."
So I
told her
that I would
pray for her
and for her
husband.
And
hoped
that as the
day went on
things would
get
better.
At this
point we
had heard
about the
pentagon
being hit.
And we
really had
no idea what
was going
on.
It was just so
frightening.

22. Mrs.
Gergahty
Left with
connor.
He didn't
come back
to school
for quite
some time.
His
father did
die on that
day.
They
had never
heard from
him after that
initial phone
call.

23. And
when
connor didcome back toschool later onin the schoolyear--i think hecame back inoctober--hewasn't the
same kid.
The best way
I can explain
it. It's almost
as if he came
back from
war.
He
wasn't the
same
bubbly,
energetic kid
that he was at
the beginning
of the
school
year.
And he
didn't stick
around for
much
longer.
He did
eventually
leave
Kellenberg
.
I
think he
finished his
freshman
year in
public
school

24. Through the
beauty of
facebook I've
been able to keep
in touch with some
of my former
students
And I
have since
learned that
connor has
become
fdny.
I'm
proud of him
for that.

25. I've seen
pictures. I know
that he's involved
with the 5K race
called Tunnels
to Towers
race.
And they
do it for
the memorial
fund for
firfighters
and their
families.
He ran
with a
friend with
some of his
father's
gear.
I think
that is
really
cool.
But that
was the
interaction
that stood
out for me
that day.

26. At one point
the principal
broke in again
over the
loudspeaker
during
class.
And he
advised us to
turn on the
television the
kids could
watch the
news.
And I
think the
rational behind
that was that he
wanted actual
news to come to
the kids rather
than just
rumors.
So we did
that.

27. We had
televisions
because of
channel one And we
turned on
the newsand it
was basically
the image of the
plane crashing
into the tower
on repeat over
and over again.
We're
watching this.
And suddenly
it's like...
"maybe this isn't
such a good idea.
Maybe we
shouldn't be
watching the
news."
So then
another
announcement
came over the
speaker to
turn it
off.

28. Finally,
when we were
dismissed for the
day, the faculty
congregated in the
big room again and
we were
watching tv.
And
nobody was
in a hurry to
get out of there
that day. Sports
and after school
activities had
been
cancelled
.
One
of my
colleagues
left early
because her
husband was
in the trade
center.
And he
was able to
call her and
say: "I'm not
going to be
able to make it
out of
here."

29. And I didn't
see this
happen...
But other
teachers had,
and they were
incredibly
emotional as a
result.
I remember
about a week or
so later, school
was cancelled so
we could go to
his funeral.
And that
was a tough
moment for
me.

30. It was
standing room
only at that
church and the
whole faculty had
gone, and it was
only just another
reason that I felt
part of that
family at
Kellenberg.

31. I didn't cry
all day.
I think
I was in
some kind of
state of
shock, for
the most
part.
I felt
like I was
in control
all the
time.
And
when I had
a chance to
reflect on
this later
on...
That'
s why I
thought that
this was my
best day
so far.

32. And it's 2013
and I can still
look back on
that day from
2001 and say
that that was my
best day so
far.
That
was when
instinct
kicked in.
That was
when I had
those 35 face
in the room who
were
accountable
to me.
And I
had to do
the best I
could for
them.

33. I had to
keep them
calm.
I had
to give
them the
information
that they
needed
without giving
them so much
that they
were
afraid.
I don't know if
I did the right
thing, but looking
back I think I did
the best I
possible could
have.
I can't
tell you
what
happened the
next day or the
day after that
or any other
day in the
following
weeks.
With
the
exception
of my
colleague's
husband's
funeral.
but that day
vividly stands out as
my best day

34. Because that was
the day I knew I had
made the right
decision--not
necessarily teaching--
but working with kids.
I knew I could do it.