Throughout the months of January and February, the Tribute Center focuses on helping to improve tools for teachers and their students. Over 1,100 students just from the New York City area (grades 5 - 12) have reserved to visit the Tribute Center. Each of these local groups will be completing their visit with a meaningful and inspirational conversation with our docents (which is often the highlight of their tour). One of our students said, "I don't think we really grasped what was happening. Having the guide with us helped us understand and appreciate the magnitude of the situation." We have been aware that many of our students have come prepared, having already explored our online "toolkit" in their classroom before their visit. When these students arrive their focus is extremely intense and respectful. We have had many teachers comment that they have never seen their students as engaged during a field trip as during their discussions with our docents.

Over the next three weeks, teachers from around the city and the nation will be sending the Tribute Center descriptions of September 11th projects. We are seeking descriptions of these projects in order to select our 2012 Teacher Award winners. If you know of teachers that you believe deserve to be recognized, the deadline for submissions is January 27th. Send the project description to education@tributewtc.org. If you are interested in the winners of previous years you can read about their motivating projects on our website here http://www.tributewtc.org/programs/teachers_awards.

If you are a teacher that struggles with how to teach about 9/11 to your students, you might be inspired by Tribute's Professional Development all day workshop for teachers, co-taught by Facing History and Ourselves and Tribute staff. On January 30th we will offer a full-day workshop devoted to this topic. We will explore the many lessons that 9/11 teaches our young people, share inspirational projects that teachers have accomplished and then help teachers to design their own approach or project to pursue within their own school community. A few spaces are still available. 

Register here http://www2.facinghistory.org/Campus/Events.nsf/ 

September 11th Families' Association co-founders, Jennifer Adams and Lee Ielpi, attended a screening with director and producer Stephen Daldry of the movie Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  After the screening, Lee Ielpi commented in response to Daldry,

"This movie reflects on the many issues that have confronted young people that lost a parent on 9/11. I hope it will be used as a learning tool for therapists working with young people, to understand the problems and difficulties that have plagued many families after the loss of a loved one. It's a movie worth seeing with an open mind realizing the horrors suffered by thousands and understanding that there are still 1,121 people still unaccounted for or missing from the attacks on the World Trade Center."