The Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial will offer a free, virtual education program this September for the National Day of Learning — “Teach to Remember 9/11.”

The program is being offered for the first time as part of the evolving 9/11 ceremony at the memorial honoring the 40 passengers and crew members aboard United Airlines Flight 93. They died when the plane crashed in a Somerset County field during coordinated terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

The virtual event offers options for all grade levels, and educators around the world are encouraged to register their classroom.

Donna Gibson, executive director of the Friends group, said the registration process will unlock resources to enhance the program. On Sept. 11, a video gallery will be available online and will include ranger guided tours, interviews with family members, an investigation of the scene and a prerecorded moment of remembrance.

For those able to tune in, the Teach to Remember 9/11 program will offer a livestream of the 9/11 ceremony at the memorial on the 22nd anniversary of the crash, as well as live Q&A sessions with rangers.

Gibson said the program will provide new resources for teachers to educate their students on what happened on 9/11.

Friends of Flight 93 also is partnering with the National Writing Project to offer a “Write to Remember” following Teach to Remember 9/11. The goal, Gibson said, is to get classrooms to register for that program after participating in the virtual program.

Gibson said oftentimes, the students and teachers who visit the Flight 93 National Memorial field trips are not located more than an hour or hour and a half away from the site. She said part of the reason why Friends chose to launch the program was to reach more teachers and students.

“We felt it’s very important for us to have resources available for teachers to teach their students what happened,” Gibson said. “We have interviews with family members — some who were young, very young on Sept. 11 — talk about how Sept. 11 continues to impact them today.”

Gibson said after students visit the memorial, they’re given surveys to complete about their experience. She’s found that many students either have not heard about what happened on 9/11 or that they were “shocked” by their visit.

It’s because there is a whole generation of people who weren’t alive during 9/11, she said, and that number keeps growing.

“It’s just kind of scary to think about,” Gibson said.

Gibson said she hopes Teach to Remember 9/11 will help educators access the resources they need.

“(I) also hope that students learn … what happened so that they can be mindful of what goes on in the world so we can hopefully prevent something like this from happening ever again — since they will be our future.”

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