LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Whether or not you know where you were on 9/11 often depends on your age. Most K-12 students nowadays have no memory of the events, leaving teachers everywhere to walk students through the tragic topic.

Two Farnsley Middle School teachers joined forces to help their students make sense of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001. 

Sixth grade English teacher Ms. Humphrey loves when her students’ hands go up with questions. During her lesson on the 9/11 attacks, their hands stayed in the air. 

“These topics are difficult and complicated, especially with sixth grade so it's definitely a challenge to figure out the best way to explain it,” Humphrey said. 

Students designed ways to memorize 9/11 victims in Ms. Edlin’s history class. (Spectrum News 1/Ashley N. Brown)

Humphrey took them back to 2001 – ten years before most of them were born – to tell the full story of the attacks that hit three cities and caused panic across the entire country.

“I learned that people that who were in the plane, who crashed into the Twin Towers they were told to do it and then, and they really didn't care if they died,” said sixth grader Rodney Sterling.

For most of her students, the lesson was their first deep dive into terror attacks. 

“I really never knew that there was a fourth plane that crashed,” said Sawyer Driscoll. 

Students said the facts about the day were shocking. They describe what they learned as sad, but interesting. 

“Almost 3,000 people died which is really sad, because I never knew that many people would die in just a period of time, in one day,” said sixth grader Audrey Larson. 

In history class, the lesson continued. Ms. Edlin discussed how to remember the event and memorialize the lives lost. 

“There were over 50,000 people in the Twin Towers and there could have been more people who died, so that's something we can be grateful for that that more lives weren't lost,” Driscoll said. 

The students give credit to the people who ran in to help that never made it back out, like first responders and also the passengers on flight 93 who fought back against the hijackers. 

“I think they are like superheroes for trying to save people's lives and their own. That just seemed very brave,” said sixth grader Jason Mario.

They took in all the information they could, but still walked away with questions that have no answers. 

“I completely don't understand why somebody would think that that's something that they should do because honestly, I would never do that,” Larson said. 

“I think we need to respect them and I'm glad that there are memorials for them because they deserved it because if we would have lost many other people if it weren't for them,” Driscoll said. 

Humphrey is glad students are back in the classroom for the tough lesson. 

“It's been so exciting to just see them be able to have them face to face and being able to have these types of conversations that we weren't really able to have virtually. It's so much different when they are all together in the same room and it's just so awesome,” Humphrey said. 

The teachers said they'll continue to teach students about 9/11 next week.