Secaucus Middle Schoolers Featured In HBO 9/11 Documentary

SECAUCUS, NJ — When HBO filmmaker Amy Schatz was looking for children to interview for her documentary on teaching 9/11, she didn't have to look too far beyond Manhattan: Secaucus Middle School.

That's right: A group of Secaucus Middle School students will make their worldwide premiere this evening when Schatz's documentary, "What Happened on September 11," airs at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11 on HBO. The kids she interviews are a collection of sixth, seventh and eighth graders from nowhere else but ... Secaucus Middle School!

If you can't tune it at 6 p.m., the school district will also be showing a screening of the documentary Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the performing arts center at Secaucus High School. Everyone in town is invited to come watch; you will probably recognize some local kids! The movie is about 35 minutes long.

"This all started because myself and Doug DePice and Melissa Dargan (both art teachers at Secaucus High School) were discussing a few years ago how to teach 9/11 to our students. After all, many of them hadn't even been born when this happened," Amanda Wargocki tells Patch. Wargocki is now vice principal at Secaucus Middle School; she was a social studies teacher at the time. "So we worked together to create a curriculum just for the events of 9/11. We wanted to have a way that was meaningful to teach the students what happened, not just in the United States, but how this affected the whole world."

As part of that curriculum, the Secaucus Middle School students were taken on a class trip to the 9/11 Memorial Museum in Lower Manattan and to the Freedom Tower. They also created artwork that depicted 9/11 and how they felt about it. The Port Authority also donated a special American flag that flew over the Freedom Tower to Secaucus High School.

The directors at the 9/11 museum were in contact with Schatz, who was already looking to make a documentary about how to teach 9/11. Schatz, who is based in New York City, said she was looking for a group of elementary school kids to film for her movie, and the museum suggested the Secaucus students.

"When she asked if she could film us, of course we said yes!" said Wargocki.

There are about 10 students who have speaking roles in the documentary, but about 50 local Secaucus kids can be seen in total in the film.

Schatz has made other documentaries, such as “The Number on Great-Grandpa’s Arm," which depicts children learning about the Holocaust, and another on the Parkland shooting.

The filming was all done two years ago, says Wargocki, and Wednesday night is the world premiere. All are welcome at Secaucus High School at 7 p.m. if you can make it. Here is a preview of what looks to be a terrific documentary featuring our town's children: