Baldwin High School Teacher Featured in the Baldwin Herald
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Bobbie Jo DiFabio Recalls Starting her Career on 9/11
Excerpt from article:
For Bobbie Jo DiFabio, the first day of her teaching career was supposed to be a milestone filled with excitement, nerves and the promise of a new beginning.
Instead, it became a day that changed the country — and shaped the educator she would become.
On Sept. 11, 2001, DiFabio, then 24, was waiting for a call about a leave replacement teaching position in the Baldwin school district. At around 9 a.m., the call came. But as she prepared to begin her career, she was also watching the events unfolding in New York City.
“When I first saw the news, I thought a movie was being filmed,” DiFabio recalled. “Seeing responders with sirens blaring, rushing toward the danger, and the dust/smoke took the movie feel away.”
The excitement of receiving her first teaching assignment quickly gave way to fear and uncertainty. “I was scared, and felt like it was wrong to be excited to have a job when things were going so horribly wrong in NYC,” she said. “I prayed for everyone responding and victims in the buildings.”
For DiFabio, who’s now 49, becoming a teacher was the culmination of years of preparation. She studied history and social sciences at Stony Brook University, where she also played flute in the university band, before earning a master’s degree in reading education from Long Island University.