Summer reading assignment told story of Gander’s unselfishness in crisis
By Gene Robbins, Managing Eidtor
On Tuesday, the 11th anniversary of terrorist attacks of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Hillsborough High School students might walk into class and face an unexpected challenge:
A neighboring community expects major flooding and all of its 10,000 residents need to be evacuated in 24 hours. Hillsborough might expect thousands of people to show at its high school in less than a day.
How will Hillsborough handle it?
Students might be assigned to small teams with a role or task — emergency management, running the school district, representing faith groups — and challenged to brainstorm solutions.
If students have done their summer reading, they’ll understand the scenario isn’t all that farfetched. They only had to look to one small city in Canada in 2001 as a case study.
This summer, all 2,400 students of Hillsborough High were assigned to read “The Day the World Came to Town,” an account of how Gander, Newfoundland, rallied with graciousness and unselfishness during the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.
Author Jim DeFede interviewed 179 people to detail the story of the response of Gander, which was suddenly the refuge of necessity for 38 jetliners in mid-air after the U.S. closed its airspace following the attacks using hijacked airliners in New York, more than 1,100 miles away, and Washington, D.C..
Suddenly Gander, a town of about 10,000, had more than 6,500 unexpected guests for a few days.
Townspeople converted schools, churches and summer camps to temporary shelters, lining up for two miles to donate pillows, sheets and bedding. . Mr. DeFede’s story focuses on personal stories, like a woman who didn’t know if her New York City firefighter grandson had survived in the rubble, or a Texas couple returning home from Kazakhstan with their adopted baby girl.
The Gander community overcame language, cultures and logistical barriers to solve every problem — setting up a kosher kitchen, pulling children’s toys out of inventory and providing for pets in the planes’ cargo holds. The town constable personally huntied down a flight attendant to deliver a hug, as he had promised a worried sister who had phoned.
On Tuesday, in each class, teachers are asked to prepare a lesson in relation to 9-11 or the book.
In past years the school had assigned a common summer read for each grade level, said Mathew Mingle, the social studies supervisor.
Mr. DeFede’s book was considered for one grade level, but, after discussion, it was felt it could apply to all four grades, he said.
Under President Bush there was a strong suggestion that schools recognize 9-11 as a day of service “and this fits to that,” Mr. Mingle said.
The book had other facets that made it appealing as an educational tool, including the fact that students entering high school today don’t remember 9-11 in the first person, he said.
He said there are many ways teachers could approach the teaching day. Students could read published first-person accounts of what happened in Gander, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Schwenksville, Pa., where passengers deliberately brought down their airliner seemingly bearing down on another landmark target in the nation’s capital.
Some may see a video of Tom Brokaw’s account shown during the 2006 Vancouver Olympics on “the Gander spirit.”
In science they might ponder how dozens of planes could be landed in a short period of time, considering fuel reserves, routes, etc.
”We did try to get the author (Mr. DeFede is a Miami newspaperman) here and we thought we had him,” said Mr. Mingle. “We’re hoping there’s a last-minute chance he’ll come.”
Not only does “The Day” give a chance to live history, it starts the school year with how people came together and leaves an uplifting message, said Mr. Mingle.
”My hope is that, if students didn’t read the book, the activities on 9-11 might motivate them to go back and read it,” he said.
’He said he was aware that many parents had read the book, too — a positive unintended consequence.
Mr. Mingle hopes that summer reads that can be used as teaching tools on many different levels might be something the district continues in the future.

