While most Alaskans can pinpoint exactly what they were doing when they learned of the September 11 attacks, thousands of Alaska students cannot; they're too young to remember what a pre-9/11 world was like.
Adults now teach today's kids about the day that changed the world.
"It is incredibly tough. It's one of the toughest things I've done as a teacher," said MaryLee Tung, a 6th grade teacher at Sand Lake Elementary.
In a history lesson that has lasted all week, the students have learned new vocabulary words like "patriotism," "Osama Bin Laden," "terrorism" and "al-Qaeda."
They completed a task this week putting several events related to 9/11 in chronological order.
Referring to the hijacked jets, 11-year-old Zoe Mahugh recalled from her studies, "One hit the Pentagon, another crashed into a field in... Virginia?" She paused while being corrected by Tung.
"Pennsylvania, yeah," Zoe said.
Despite all the change in our classrooms, one thing has remained the same -- like any good class, there's a lesson that these children understand.
"Our nation kind of lost that day," Zoe said. "They need to fix that hole in their heart."
11-year-old Savanah Easley said, "I think that what happened that day, after we realized it was not an accident, it was someone trying to hurt us, we will always, always remember all the people that lost their lives, and gave their lives to help others."
The Anchorage School District says many 6th grade classrooms will talk about the significance of 9/11 on Monday, one day after the 10th anniversary of the attacks.
