Safe and Sound Speaker and Founder of Mission Be, Carin Winter, reflects on the tragedy of September
- Brandon Bain
- Sep 16, 2016
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 6, 2024
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-4548 alignleft lazyload" src="https://safeandsoundschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Carin_head-sq-300x300.jpg" alt="carin_head-sq" width="300" height="300" />On September 8, 2001, Michael Iken sat down with his wife Monica and told her that he had a feeling that he was going to leave this earth suddenly. He did not know how this would occur, but the feeling was strong. Michael told Monica that he had no regrets, that he loved her deeply, and that he felt at peace. Three days later, he died in the second tower of the World Trade Center.
Five days after the tragic events of 9/11, I met Monica Iken for the first time, through my uncle, one of the only survivors at Euro Brokers. He was Michael’s best friend.
While talking with Monica and hearing her story, a clear vision came to me: one of Monica as a leader and spokesperson for a Memorial at the World Trade Center Site. When I shared this with her, Monica shrugged it off saying “That’s impossible. I am a kindergarten teacher. I love my job, and I plan to keep teaching.”
Ten years later, in the spring of 2011, I watched Monica live on CNN, speaking at Ground Zero beside President Barack Obama and former Mayor Giuliani. Monica, now the CEO of September’s Mission, was representing the 9/11 families participating in the building of the Memorial. Watching Monica on television, I felt a profound sense of interconnectedness. I witnessed a sense of grace demonstrated by those who overcome tragedy with resilience, service, and love.
In the wake of this profound experience, I reconnected with Monica and shared with her my vision for creating a curriculum for schools, designed to decrease high-risk behavior, violence, and bullying, while addressing social and emotional challenges. We discussed a shared goal of creating this kind of program for NYC schools, and Monica expressed that this was very much in line with the goals of September’s Mission.
Years later we continue to work together. Mission Be reaches more and more schools with a message of forgiveness, resiliency, strength, and hope. And now in partnership with Safe and Sound Schools, we look to reach school communities across the country.
Learn more about Carin as a speaker and workshop presenter on our Safe and Sound website and at Mission Be.
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