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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Author, Nora Raleigh Baskin, spoke to the fifth and sixth-grade students at Mckinley elementary on Oct. 5 to talk about her newest book, "nine, ten: A September 11 Story."
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Students filled the cafeteria on Oct. 5 at Mckinley Elementary to listen to author, Nora Raleigh Baskin, talk about her newest book, "nine, ten: A September 11 Story."
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Author, Nora Raleigh Baskin, visited Poland Mckinley Elementary on Oct. 5 to discuss her book "nine, ten: A September 11 Story."
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Author Nora Raleigh Baskin visited Poland McKinley Elementary and Poland Middle School on Oct. 5 to speak about Sept. 11 and her new book “Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story.”
The visit was broken into two parts, one for the fifth- and sixth-grade students at McKinley and one for the seventh- and eighth-grade students at Poland Middle. Baskin spoke to the students about her book, which helps children better understand the seriousness of Sept. 11.
Baskin’s book was about four children who had never met, but had more in common than they expected. There were four core values that the story was based on: chance, xenophobia, sacrifice and heroism. Baskin said the inspiration for her book came from the assassination of Robert Kennedy, which she was alive to experience, and also the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy.
“Overnight it felt like the world just changed. It became a place of great division, there was a lot of conflict between the police and the people who were protesting the world,” said Baskin. “This is the world I grew up in, it wasn’t the world when I was 2-years-old. My world was very affected by those three events.”
The students who are currently in grade school were all born after the events of Sept. 11, 2001 occurred. Baskin gave the students a lesson about 9/11 using her book to make it easier for them to understand, rather than reading from a textbook. The book focused more on the days of the four main characters leading up to 9/11 and the events that took place after.
Baskin hoped the students walked away from the assembly with a better understanding of 9/11 which will help with the lessons they will learn in the classroom.