September 11, 2001 7:45 am. Central Standard Time

I arrived at L.V. Hightower High School after my 56-mile one-way drive to work. I walked in and noticed that all of the electricity was off. All of the 2,000-some-odd students were all corralled in either the gym or the cafeteria. This reveals the genius of school districts these days. At this point, Hightower was only three years old and neither the school district nor the architects had enough forsight to build a single room that could contain the entire student body. I had also been told that the floor plan of this school was the same as two other schools in our district and a few other schools in neighboring districts.

I some how made it thru the herd and found one of the principals. They said there was something wrong with the main electrical breaker and they didn't know how long the electricity was going to be out, but we weren't going to allow the students out of the two main areas until we had electricity. I went to my room, put down my bag full of papers and and locked up my purse. I locked my room back and went back to the fun duty of crowd control.

About 8:45 the electricity came back on and they finally opened the gates and allowed the teachers and students to go to their respective classrooms. Our school had what was known as Academies, that offered specialized courses in Computers, Medicine, Engineering, and Broadcasting. The daily school announcements were given on our own tv station, in a news format. The televisions were set to come on automatically everyday at the same time. Our broadcasting students were also a part of CNN's Student Bureau.

About the time we were walking into the classroom, the tv came on... but it wasn't on our station... I noticed the stations were being flipped like a man had the remote. All of a sudden it stopped on CNN just in time to show a replay of the plane flying into the first tower. The students were loud and rowdy as they had been cooped up in a dark hot cafeteria or gymnasium for an hour or so. I'm not sure what I did... I think I just stood there, staring at the television and eventually they got quiet as they noticed what I was watching. Then they showed the second plane fly into the second tower. I remember sitting down, right there, in the middle of the floor... indian style, my chin in my hands, never taking my eyes off the TV.

Then... the most inconvienent thing in the world happened. Apparently they hadn't fixed the main breaker and the electricity went off again. My students started crying and screaming. Screaming... "We're Gonna Die." I wasn't sure they weren't right. The electricity was off for about 5 minutes. When it came back on the head principal came on the PA system and made an announcement although I have no clue what she said.

The electricity continued to go off and on throughout the rest of the day. No teaching took place that day. Students moved from classroom to classroom when the bells rang only to sit back down and watch the TV. Parents started picking up students early and by 4th period, the end of the day... there wasn't hardly anyone left at the school. Then the head principal made another announcement. She said for all the teachers to go home. No meetings, no practices, no staying to grade papers... GO HOME.

A friend of mine, CN, decided she wanted to go home with me. She lived only minutes from the school and we weren't that far from the Ship Channel. Houston, we believed, could have been another target, as that is one of the major ports where many of our daily necessities are brought into this nation on a daily basis. Granted, I only lived 56 miles away.. but it was far enough to make us feel a little better.

We drove out to my house in Smalltown, Texas and did the only thing we could think of. We mowed my yard, drank beer and cooked everything we could find in my kitchen.

After that school year, I quit teaching and moved to TheArmPitOfHell and CN moved to Louisiana. I have contacted a mutal friend and no one has heard from CN since Katrina hit the area. 9/11 is a day I will never forget and the events that I am reminded of from four-years ago makes it that much harder to realize that we don't know where or how to get a hold of CN. If you see this CN, get in touch with us... we love you!

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at September 11, 2005 05:36 PM

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Posted by: BerryGirl at September 12, 2005 10:59 PM

Posted by: Childress at September 21, 2005 07:08 PM

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