Mondays with Mike: September 11th
9/11: What We Hand the Next Generation
PCA Families,
Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, every current PCA student knows 9/11 as history rather than memory. Yet they have grown up entirely in the world it helped shape.
This episode is special because it carries a great deal of memory and emotion for those of us who experienced that horrific event and the days and years that followed.
As PCA prepares to mark the 25th anniversary, I share a simple framework we will use in age-appropriate ways: Remember. Understand. Lament. Respond.
The challenge for those who remember is not simply to preserve an event. It is to hand the next generation truthful memory—without nostalgia, fear, bitterness, or easy answers—and, as Christians, to point them toward hope rooted in Jesus Christ.
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” — Romans 12:21
Listen: Remembering 9/11 at 25 — What We Hand the Next Generation (10 minutes)
Key Takeaways
- For our students, September 11 is history rather than memory.
They did not experience that day, but they have inherited much of the world it shaped. Those of us who do remember now have a responsibility to hand that memory forward carefully and truthfully. - We want our students to remember honestly.
September 11 revealed extraordinary courage, sacrifice, service, and grief. The years that followed were also long and complicated. Faithful memory should neither romanticize the past nor reduce it to fear. - September 11 is also part of PCA’s own story.
Tom McGuinness, first officer of American Airlines Flight 11, was a PCA parent. His children were students here that morning. We remember how he died, but we also want to remember how he lived—as a husband, father, veteran, Christian, pilot, and member of this community. - We will help students remember in age-appropriate ways.
Across PCA, our basic movement is simple: Remember. Understand. Lament. Respond. We want students to know what happened, make room for grief, ask honest questions, and consider how truthful memory should shape the way they live. - Christian hope does not ask us to minimize evil or suffering.
Scripture gives us language for grief and reminds us that God is present in trouble. Our hope is not that suffering will never come again, but that Jesus Christ was, is, and remains our refuge, our Lord, and our sure hope. - We want memory to form courage, compassion, and service.
In Romans 12:21, God calls us not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. Jesus calls us to love our neighbors and pray for our enemies. We want our students to tell the truth, honor courage, care for those who suffer, resist hatred and scapegoating, love their neighbors, and serve faithfully.
Parents, thank you for entrusting your children to us. You know them in ways we never will; we will sometimes see things here that you may not see at home. Together, we gain a fuller picture of who they are becoming.
So please plug in this year. Meet teachers. Ask questions. Volunteer. Pray for our teachers and coaches. Encourage your child through appropriate difficulty. Celebrate growth, not only results. And let us know when there is something we need to know.
Growth in people is rarely neat, and none of us will get every moment exactly right. But we will walk through those moments together.
As you come onto campus, I hope you notice all the work that has been done. But even more, notice the people—the teachers ready to receive your children, students reconnecting, and families beginning another year together.
Perhaps take a moment to imagine who your child may be when we gather here again at the end of this school year.
We are grateful to begin that journey with you.
Welcome back to PCA.
We’ll see you on campus real soon!
Mike Runey
Head of School
Portsmouth Christian Academy
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