9/11 Survivors and Families Honor the Fallen with the Country’s First Comprehensive Curriculum

Culver City, CA – August 31, 2009– The Sept. 11^th Education Trust, a nonprofit organization representing survivors and families, and Social Studies School Service, a leading provider of materials for schools, have created the first comprehensive curriculum for students.   Teachers, parents and elected officials across the country recognize the need to fold the events of 9/11 into classroom instruction.  Now they have the tool with which to do so.

 

“Our goal is to help students remember the human dimension of these events,” said Anthony Gardner, Founder and Director of The September 11^th Education Trust and brother of 9/11 victim Harvey Joseph Gardner III. “With this curriculum, it is now possible for students to understand the history of the 9/11 attacks as they honor and remember the victims and survivors.”

 

Drawing upon the educational expertise of Social Studies School Service and the Taft Institute for Government at QueensCollege, The Sept. 11^th Education Program: A National Interdisciplinary Curriculum is a multimedia curriculum that can be used as independent lessons or as a yearlong course of study. It provides seven curriculum units filled with inquiry-based interactive activities tied to national standards and a multitude of primary sources, including 70 first-person interviews with survivors, victim’s family members such as Beverly Eckert, and politicians such as Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, and others.

 

The seven units for students in grades 6–12 include:

 

Each unit includes first person interviews with people like Howard Lutnick, Cantor Fitzgerald’s Chairman and CEO, who lost his brother and 658 employees on Sept. 11^th. It also includes interview transcripts, a video timeline of the day, lesson plans, an interactive Website, student handouts and advocacy activities that focus on acts of public service and civic participation which support President Obama’s recent establishment of September 11^th as a national day of public service and remembrance. A full scope and sequence is included with each unit.

 

Social Studies School Service is making available a free 12-minute Remembrance Video, discussion questions, and a Web forum for discussing student reactions. Visit www.LearnAbout9-11.org to access more information about this curriculum and to view the free Remembrance presentation.

 

The September 11th Education Trust, founded in September 2001 as the WTC United Family Group, is a nonprofit organization directed by 9/11 victims’ families, survivors, rescue workers, and educators nationwide.  Evolving from its genesis as the WTC United Family Group, one of the original and largest of the 9/11 community organizations, the September 11th Education Trust produces comprehensive, flexible, and engaging 9/11 and civic literacy education programs that are personalized and enriched through firsthand accounts, filmed oral histories, and authentic, primary archival materials to permanently record this shared historic event in a way that is not stagnant, but inspiring and relevant to the nation’s youth.  

 

Social Studies School Service has been a leader in educational resources since 1965, meeting the evolving needs of teachers with accessible and engaging materials aligned with national standards. Social Studies School Service also offers interactive professional development focusing on skill development to effectively increase student achievement. For more information, visit www.socialstudies.com.