LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Everyone remembers where they were on September 11th – even 20 years later.
"I was in first grade on September 11th," Megan Prettyman, a teacher at Little Rock Southwest High School of Innovation, said.
Prettyman doesn't remember much else from then, but the memories of that day are still crystal clear.
"I remember watching the video of the second plane hitting the tower," she said. "I remember watching the tower fall."
These memories stand out from the rest for Prettyman – ones she said she'll never forget.
"When you have these big moments, and they're moments where you can tell this is history happening in real-time: those stick out," she said.
Those memories are still with her today, and it's events like that that Prettyman teaches every day as a history teacher.
"When I'm teaching I want students to realize that history impacts today," she said.
But teaching students about 9/11 today is a little different than even a couple of years ago – none of them were alive at the time.
"They might not have lived it, but they are living through the consequences of it," Prettyman said.
Even though they weren't born yet, students still understand how impactful that day was. Their families made sure of that.
"The kids know, sometimes when we talk about history and we'll be like, 'haha it's funny,'" she said. "And there are times where this is, this is not something you joke about."
Even though they might not have been alive to witness one of the darkest days in American history, Prettyman is trying to make sure they never forget.
"I think for me and my history class, my goal is always for kids to understand why," she said.
"History doesn't happen in a vacuum, history happens in society, and today's society only exists because of everything that came before it."