story4659.xml

story4659.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I thought it was going to be a great day... The sun was shining so bright and it was my birthday. I was going to teach my first class ever... I was substituting at a school in Frankfort, Illinois. I was going to teach kindergarten. What unfolded was something I never expected. As I walked into the school another teacher came up to me and asked if I knew what happened. I had no idea what had taken place from when I left my house and I entered that school. All I could think of was I'm from New York. This could not be happening on what was supposed to be a great day. The little children who entered my class knew very little of what happened. They were just little faces wondering why we couldn't go outside. And there was very little I could say. At that time we thought it was better left till they got home. As lunch time came around I entered the teacher's lunchroom. And heard all the terrible news. I still couldn't believe what had happened. By two o'clock it was time to go. It had been the longest day of my life. I came home and was glued to the T.V. Nothing seemed real but it was all too real.

Mindy Olivieri