On Sept. 11, 2001, Kimberly Harding was teaching Algebra I at Gaston College, Sarah Nicholson was in a seventh grade social studies class, Mary Katherine Hale was on her first day of teaching kindergarten at Leicester Elementary School, and Megan Morgan was at UNC Asheville working to earn a teaching degree.

These four Clyde A. Erwin Middle School faculty and staff members joined other adults at the school to sit down with students and recount their personal experiences on the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Working in small groups, students conducted oral-history interviews, asking staff members where they were when they first heard about the attacks, how people around them reacted, how the day affected their lives and what they believe today’s students should understand about its historical significance. The activity complemented lessons on primary and secondary sources while giving students a personal connection to an event that occurred years before they were born.

“Anytime we can take history outside of the four walls of this classroom, it is important in teaching kids about the past,” said social studies and English language arts teacher Carrie Pratt-Brown, who organized the oral history project. “The United States changed dramatically after 9/11.”

For her, it’s even more personal. She was 16 years old in 2001, and her next-door neighbor’s daughter, Sandy Waugh Bradshaw, was a flight attendant aboard United Airlines Flight 93. Since beginning her teaching career in 2010, Pratt-Brown has made a point to honor Bradshaw and the other passengers and crew members of Flight 93 by sharing their story with her students.

“She is absolutely my hero, along with everyone else on Flight 93,” Pratt-Brown said. “They knew kind of what was going to happen, and they decided to try to take over the plane. To me, that’s true bravery.”