By: Megan Roche

When the September 11th attacks happened in 2001, West Morris Mendham English teacher Nate Ward was a student at the University of Nebraska. While away at school, he felt a strong desire to be back on the east coast and around the people he knew that were hurting from the tragic events.

“I felt really cutoff when I was a student at University of Nebraska. That feeling of being trapped from it is the true starting point of my project, because I just wanted to come home. Everybody in Nebraska, like you would want them to be, they were upset, but they didn’t understand the area, the region, and all the impacts this attack would have,” Ward said.

He then dove in head first to try and understand the history of America’s relationship with Afghanistan. It was shortly after he began reading a book about Pat Tillman, an American professional football player who was killed in Afghanistan, that he was also given a copy of a film by the Naudet brothers, two Frenchmen who were with the Engine 7, Ladder 1 Company on 9/11.

“I’m teaching this unit that involves Pat Tillman, the Naudet brother’s film, and I had this crazy idea to call that particular firehouse,” Ward recalls.

He ended up on the phone with someone at the firehouse and was talking 1,000 miles a minute, trying to get his point across in the most impactful way. All Ward was looking for was an opportunity to bring his students on a trip to the firehouse. 

“I just remember him saying ‘Okay, when are you coming?’ and I really didn’t think it was going to be that easy,” Ward said.

The first year that he offered the trip, he took one class of 25 students. Throughout time, Ward has brought over 1,000 students to the firehouse in lower Manhattan. On the trip, students were able to meet and talk to current firefighters that call the house home and also tour the World Trade Center Memorial. 

Engine 7, Ladder 1 was one of the first units to respond to the World Trade Center on 9/11. They were originally dispatched to a gas odor call when the first plane struck the North Tower. The events of the day, which were captured by the Naudet brothers film, are some of the first images that came out of the attacks. Since that day, the firehouse has become known as the “Miracle House” as all 55 of its firefighters escaped the World Trade Center alive after a directive was given to evacuate the towers. 

To go along with the trip, Ward also teaches a unit specifically around September 11, 2001. 

“My father saved all of his newspaper articles, periodicals, from September 12, 2001 and on. Once I started to teach the lesson, people were constantly adding to the artifacts in my classroom. That day, I meet the kids in the hallway, the door is locked behind me, the lights in my classroom are off. Once all the kids are there, I give them a rundown of what the expectations for the class are going to be, with the overarching goal of bringing them one step closer to understanding something about that day,” Ward explained.

Scattered around his classroom are various artifacts and items that in some way, shape or form deal with the tragedy of the terrorist attacks. From newspaper clippings, photographs, books, and more, students are able to engage with the items and learn about their importance in history. 

The next day, Ward has the students discuss what artifact they interacted with and their thoughts on the historic day. He hopes that their experience helps them understand a moment in history that happened before they were alive.

“When you teach something like this, you feel like you are actually doing something. I couldn’t do anything on 9/11, except be at school and talk to people. Now, I’m in a classroom and I can actually accomplish something and have people understand this or want to learn about it more. I had one kid who was so inspired by what we talked about in the classroom that he went on to become a firefighter himself. If you can take something from this lesson, and have it enrich, impact, or alter somebody’s life, that is pretty amazing,” Ward said. 

In September 2025, thanks to Ward and his friendship with the firefighting team, West Morris Mendham students will get a visit from the firefighters of Engine 7, Ladder 1. During the visit, students will have the opportunity to hear their experiences from the day. 

“It’s pretty cool to me that I can get a text from a guy who is an old school fireman and his message just simply said ‘miss you’. I can’t believe that it means that much to them to tell their stories and that we get the privilege to hear them,” Ward said.