MONTGOMERY, W.Va. — A quarter century ago, Lisa Woo was the vice principal at South Charleston Junior High School as the terroristic attacks of September 11th, 2001 unfolded.
25 years later, Woo is a history instructor at the quasi-military school Mountaineer Challenge Academy in West Virginia. She recalls the harrowing experience as if it were yesterday.
“I remember my clerk coming through and saying nonchalantly, ‘they just bombed one of the towers, the Twin Towers.’ I didn’t think much of it at the moment,” Woo said on MetroNews “Midday.” “A few minutes later, she came back, she said, ‘they just bombed the second tower.’ I can remember the chills running down my spine, like they’re doing right now, that this was no accident, this was a terroristic attack.”
Woo is determined to make sure that the next generation, cadets who she teaches at MCA now, understand the history and significance of 9/11. The MCA is designed as another option for high school-aged youth who experience academic challenges. The academy gives those students an opportunity to receive a high school education in a military-like environment and launches them into their next steps in life.
MCA cadets nowadays weren’t even born when the world was forever changed, Woo said. That’s why she’s taught cadets about 9/11.
On the 25th anniversary of the plane hijackings and suicide bombings, the Mountaneer Challenge Academy will pay its respects to the brave men and women who charged into danger that day, many of whom lost their lives. The attacks in New York City and elsewhere on 9/11 claimed nearly 3,000 lives.
Cadets will participate in an Honor Walk at WVU Tech’s campus at 9:30 a.m. Friday. The ceremony will recognize the 343 New York firefighters who died that day. Several cadets will speak during the ceremony, along with Montgomery Police Chief Paris Workman sharing a few remarks. The Riverside High School band will perform the national anthem, and there will be Honor Guards on hand.
The cadet speakers, Cadet Grizzle and Cadet Estep, also joined MetroNews “Midday” to share a perspective from the next generation who has only lived in a post-9/11 reality. Woo’s teachings have put the tragedy into perspective for the cadets.
“There was a lot of people that were calling their families on the flights that went into the Trade Centers, as well as the one that sadly crashed in Pennsylvania and the one that crashed into the Pentagon,” the 16-year-old Grizzle said. “It was a lot more tragic than I initially thought.”
Grizzle said he’s always been keen on learning military history and significant events.
“Pearl Harbor and especially 9/11, and things like that, but I never had a deep understanding of it,” Grizzle said. “Hearing the stories of the people that died in it, and people that experienced it, whether it be from a school or from their home, it really gave me a deeper understanding, and more of a passion to just protect this country, as well as protect the things I hold dear.”
Cadet Estep said the stories from the attacks were haunting.
“The last couple weeks of her teaching us this has really taught me the depths of the situation and all the sad stories that have happened along with it,” Estep said. “All of the deaths, the memorials, and the calls from the families going out onto those planes. It’s just really sort of a depressive (thing).”
During Friday’s ceremony, Woo said the cadets will have a moment of silence to remember those who were lost that day. Then, the cadets will file out wearing heavy backpacks, walking the steps at WVU Tech’s campus as many times as they choose. The backpacks symbolize the weight that the firefighters carried as they attempted rescues on 9/11.
“They will march in in silence to honor those victims of 9/11,” Woo said. “We will show a short video of those last recorded messages from loved ones.”
Woo said that nationalism is one of the topics that she covers in her history courses. She remembered the days after 9/11, and the strong patriotism that followed.
“You couldn’t buy a flag anywhere, every home was flying a flag of some sort,” Woo said. “Cars had decals, flags were everywhere. We were very proud to be Americans, we were proud to defend our country, to stand up for what our country meant. That was an event that I thought I would never see.”