Bethpage remembers Sept. 11, 2001, through the voices of those who lived it
Earlier this year, Bethpage social studies department head Erica Indenbaum and Director of Technology Andrew Choi began thinking about how the district could commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in a way that was both deeply meaningful and educational.
Their idea was to preserve Bethpage’s own stories from that day.
With the support of Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Mike Spence, Indenbaum and Choi set out to create an oral history featuring members of the Bethpage community who experienced 9/11 firsthand. The resulting 20-minute documentary brings together their memories to create a powerful teaching tool for a generation of students who know Sept. 11 only as history.
Staff members across Bethpage’s five schools were invited to share their experiences on camera. The response was overwhelming. Over two days at Bethpage High School and John F. Kennedy Middle School, nearly 30 staff members sat down to tell their stories.
Their experiences offer a deeply personal look at the many ways Sept. 11 touched the Bethpage community. Some were students themselves in 2001. Others were already teaching at Bethpage High School and recalled the responsibility of guiding and reassuring students as news of the attacks unfolded.
Charles Campagne Elementary School Principal Julianne Inghilterra shared the story of her father, a first responder at Ground Zero. JFK Middle School security team member Tom Szillus recalled Sept. 11 as his first day on the job as a firefighter, when he suddenly found himself aboard a truck headed to the World Trade Center to assist with search and rescue efforts.
Each story captures a different experience of the same historic day. Together, accompanied by photographs, artifacts and archival footage, they form a time capsule of Sept. 11 through the eyes of people our students see in their schools today.
Students also played an important role in preserving those stories. Bethpage High School seniors Luke Baumbach and Casey Christensen, along with Class of 2026 alumni Paridhi Miglani and Tara Gyaltsen, conducted the interviews and helped assemble the footage into the final film.
Twenty-five years later, none of Bethpage’s current students were alive on Sept. 11, 2001. For them, the events of that day can feel distant, something encountered through textbooks, photographs and historical footage. Hearing directly from their teachers, principals and other familiar members of their school community brings that history closer to home.
The documentary will be used in Bethpage’s middle and high school social studies classrooms, preserving these firsthand accounts for students now and in the years ahead.
For the people who lived through Sept. 11, these are memories. For today’s students, they are history. By recording them now, Bethpage is ensuring that the voices behind that history will continue to be heard.
Click here to read about Newsday’s coverage of this project.