Pennsylvania Teacher Uses Flight 93 Connection to Teach 9/11 Lessons

For today's K-12 students, the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are history. For one Pennsylvania teacher, however, teaching the lessons of that day is also deeply personal.

Marty Runzer, a fifth-grade teacher in West Chester, Pennsylvania, was one of 40 educators selected to participate in a summer symposium at the Flight 93 National Memorial.

The program, organized by the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, focused on helping educators develop age-appropriate ways to teach students about the September 11 attacks and the significance of Flight 93.

Runzer has a unique connection to the story.

Before becoming a teacher, she worked as a flight attendant for United Airlines. She was on maternity leave on September 11, 2001, and was scheduled to return to flying about two weeks later.

As television networks displayed the names of passengers and crew members aboard the four hijacked aircraft, Runzer began to recognize people connected to her own career.

“That’s when things really started crashing down for me, like these might be people I know,” Runzer said.

United Flight 93 was hijacked along with three other commercial aircraft on September 11. Passengers and crew members attempted to regain control of the plane after learning about the other attacks. The aircraft ultimately crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, before reaching its intended target in Washington.

Runzer said flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw was one week ahead of her in training. She had also flown multiple times with senior flight attendant Lorraine Bay.

Those personal memories became part of the lesson plans developed during the symposium. Runzer and other educators used stories of four Flight 93 heroes to create classroom material centered on concepts students can understand, including kindness, courage and responsibility.

“Lorraine showed a lot of kindness, so how can we make others feel welcome even if we don’t know them?” Runzer said.

Runzer began teaching in 2006. During her first year, she wore her former flight attendant wings on September 11 and told her students that she had lost colleagues in the attacks.

Over the years, she has expanded the way she discusses the anniversary with her students, while emphasizing that September 11 happened before they were born.

“I tell the kids, you can be an everyday superhero too. Anybody can be.”

The goal, Runzer says, is to ensure the stories and lessons of September 11 continue to be passed from one generation to the next.

Explore: NBCPalmSprings.com, where we are connecting the Valley.