Natalie Murphy, Social Science Teacher
September 10, 2021
“They conducted the day as normal so that us students were not scared or nervous or anything like that.” – Natalie Murphy
A junior in high school, Natalie Murphy was sitting in her second period American Studies class at MCHS’s West Campus. The day was seemingly normal enough — that is until another student ran into class late telling the whole class, “A plane hit the World Trade Center.”
Because of the time and place, students did not have easy access to the news and current events to the extent of students twenty years later. Additionally, West Campus was under construction at the time, causing the TVs that were in classrooms to not work, the information trickled around the school, filling everyone with anxiety and fear over the unknown.
“We couldn’t text our parents or go online to see what was going on,” Murphy states. Some teachers even put on the radio to try and keep up-to-date with what was happening and the wreckage that was going on around the country.
Though, for the most part, teachers tried to keep the day as normal as possible for the sake of the students. Many did not see footage of the September 11 attacks until they got home and were able to watch the news.