New York City Adult Education Remembers Sept. 11. (Personal Reflections) (2001)

As the consequences of the terrorists' attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 continue to sink in, we realize that no one has been left untouched. Few people outside New York City may realize, however, how these events have been felt by the adult education community in the city at this time. From the vantage point of director of an adult education graduate degree program who works with agencies, adult educators and adult learners, I provide one perspective for consideration and reflection. As the thick ash filled the air and smoke endured for days afterwards, people were struggling to comprehend the events of that Tuesday morning. Thousands of people were missing, numerous buildings destroyed or compromised and millions of people dazed, horrified and frightened by the tragedy that jolted our lives in and around our city. Down at ground zero, several organizations directly serving adult learners and educators were damaged, shut down and/or closed indefinitely The Literacy Assistance Center was evacuated and communication lines inaccessible. The Borough of Manhattan Community College was used as a support center for the recovery teams and some adult education city services were unable to access their offices. Pace University's WTC campus was displaced. These organizations and agencies had to shut down their programs temporarily and find the best way to reach their employees and constituencies quickly in the confusion. As lines of communication opened, we were able to reach friends and colleagues in the days after the attack, we heard the personal side of its impact. Our adult educators had lost innumerable children, former and current students, friends and colleagues--all in one day Months later, we are still struggling to comprehend one adult educator's loss of her adult child and 10 of her former students and friends, does one cope with going to four, five, or six funerals in a row? Can we understand such heartache? Other adult educators lost everything in their homes and many did not have access to their homes for weeks. Others reported to a different location for work each day because the attacks destroyed their former offices. All of the survivors had to deal with returning to work and moving around the city at some point. Honestly, many were asking, as the nation did, flow do we go on? When we reached our work, our classes, our colleagues and our students, we were relieved to see each one and hallway greetings were urgent indicators of whether we, and our family and friends, were okay. Sometimes the responses were heartbreaking, and all of them serious. Some people could not return to work, not yet. As we wrestle with damaged communication lines, grounded airplanes, closed roadways, bridges and tunnels, traffic gridlock, car searches and mandatory carpools we are living through a time of large and small upheaval. Life as we knew it might not return, but the city and its extended family will rise. We see this resolution in the faces of the rescue and recovery workers, the staff at the family help centers and the support crews at ground zero and in the offices, restaurants and services that make up this metropolis. The destruction caused some of our adult learners to lose family, homes and/or jobs. As a result, our classes were changed. Once classes reconvened, serious discussion centered about the tragedy and survival. …