Former Yorkville grade school teacher co-authors book that recalls 9/11 pen pal project

Everyone remembers where they were when the jet aircraft slammed into New York’s World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

In Yorkville, Circle Center Grade School teacher Elaine Mroczka was in the school library helping her students find books to read.

Another teacher rushed in and told Mroczka that a parent had come into the school with the news that the country was under attack.

In Julie O’Connor’s third grade classroom at P.S. 48 in Manhattan, a similar situation played out.

Initially, O’Connor thought that it was an accidental strike by a small plane, but as telephone calls started coming in to the school, the reality became more evident.

While most of those who were living will remember 9/11 as if it happened yesterday, many others were not yet born or were too young to recall those tragic events nearly 21 years ago.

“There’s a whole generation that doesn’t know this story,” Mroczka said.

Mroczka and O’Connor have told the story from their unique perspectives in a newly published book, “United States of Friendship: Pen Pals of 9/11.”

At the time of the attack, a stunned Mroczka was thinking about what might be going through the minds of teachers and students in New York and wanted them to know that they were not alone.

“We were Americans and we were hurting too,” Mroczka said.

The next day, the teacher and her students talked about their feelings. Soon, Mroczka took action and set her students to work writing letters.

Then Mroczka packaged up the letters and addressed the parcel to “Any Third Grade Class, Any Elementary School, New York City, New York.”

One of the student letters, dated Sept. 13, is typical.

“We know you are scared. That is OK. We are scared too. We are very unhappy. I am very sorry for your loss. I hope none of you third graders got hurt bad or your parents. We wish you peace. Peace be with you.”

O’Connor was deeply touched when the parcel arrived from Yorkville. There had indeed been a loss suffered. A cousin of one of her students had died in the attack.

Soon, a parcel of letters from O’Connor’s class at P.S. 48, was delivered to Circle Center School, beginning a pen pal exchange that lasted for a year.

The big city students were curious to learn about “rural Illinois,” O’Connor said. They felt safe to write about their fears to fellow third-grade students, she said.

As Mroczka and O’Connor began to form a personal bond, the world was taking notice of the letter exchange.

A story appeared in The New York Times, which caught the notice of a producer from NBC’s “Today” Show.

On, Nov. 21, 2001, crews from NBC showed up at both schools to film the students and conduct interviews.

“It wasn’t just a pen pal story,” O’Connor said, remembering the emphasis on the kindness the students showed each other.

“It was what the nation craved,” O’Conor said. “We felt unified as a country by this national tragedy and it captured the imagination.”

The parcel exchange continued with letters, holiday cards, candy treats and pictures drawn by the students.

In June 2002, Mroczka visited P.S. 48, hand-delivering more letters and little stuffed bears for each of O’Connor’s students.

O’Connor reciprocated with a visit to Yorkville a couple of months later.

“Big Apple teacher visits Circle Center class to thank students for their letters,” was the front page headline from the Aug. 29, 2002, edition of the Kendall County Record.

“The letters the New York students wrote to Illinois were cathartic in a way, allowing the children to show emotions they usually wouldn’t express in a classroom setting,” the Record reported.

Today, Mroczka is retired from teaching and lives in Lockport. O’Connor continues teaching on the other side of the Hudson River, at a school in New Jersey.

They both believe that the story of 9/11 has much to teach Americans about showing kindness to their fellow countrymen.

“People need to reach out and be kind to one another,” Mroczka said.

That’s why the two teachers banded together again to write the book, which reads like a conversation between the two.

Filled with photographs, the book tells the story of the attack and the response by the two teachers and their students to make something positive out of the tragedy.

This is Mroczka’s third published work. “Grandma’s Gems of Wisdom,” puts together the sayings of her grandmother, while “A Pig’s Tale” is a poem for children.

“United States of Friendship” is available on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble stores and at the 9/11 Memorial in New York.