Reunion returns to Sarasota County elementary school where President Bush learned of 9/11 attacks

World Trade Center steel beam on display

A piece of ground zero returned to the elementary school in Sarasota where President George W. Bush first learned America was under attack on 9/11. FOX 13's Blake DeVine reports.

NORTH SARASOTA, Fla. - A piece of ground zero returned on Tuesday to the elementary school in North Sarasota where President George W. Bush first learned America was under attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

Escorted by a patriotic police patrol, a 16,000-pound steel beam from the World Trade Center arrived at Emma E. Booker Elementary School. This was part of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s "Steel Across America" tour.

President Bush learns of attacks

The backstory:

Former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card attended the ceremony, returning to the campus for the first time in 25 years. He is remembered for delivering the news to President George W. Bush that America was under attack.

Courtesy: George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum

"I walked up to the president," Card said. "I whispered into his ear, ‘A second plane hit the second tower, America is under attack.’"

Card reflected on the historic moment and the lasting impact it would have on the second grade students.

"They didn't realize what would happen that day would be a day that would forever change the country and the world," Card said.

What they're saying:

The event also reunited Card with former second grade teacher Sandra Kay Daniels, whose classroom President Bush visited on the morning of Sept. 11.

"We just embraced, hugged and just held each other because it had been 25 years since I last saw him," Daniels said.

Special 9/11 reunion at Sarasota school

A piece of ground zero returned on Tuesday to the elementary school in North Sarasota where President George W. Bush first learned America was under attack on Sept. 11, 2001. FOX 13's Blake DeVine reports.

Inside the elementary school’s library, a section dedicated to 9/11 includes an original copy of "The Pet Goat," the book being read when Bush was informed of the terrorist attacks.

Daniels said the memories from that morning have stayed with her ever since.

"It’s an everyday thing for me," Daniels said. "I will never get away from that. I was with the president, and he was with me. That happened here at my school."

Honoring 9/11 victims and heroes

Big picture view:

The Sarasota stop is part of a nationwide tribute organized by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation to honor the victims and heroes of Sept.11.

Daniels believes younger generations should continue learning about the attacks and their impact on America.

"It needs to be a part of the curriculum in every school," Daniels said. "So, every kid will know what 9/11 actually means."

For the 16 second graders inside the classroom that day, what began as a visit from the president quickly turned into a defining moment in American history.

Natalia Jones-Pinkney was one of those students sitting just feet away from President Bush when Card interrupted the reading lesson.

"I don't know if I understood at that time that that was really going on," Jones-Pinkney said. "I was just excited that we were meeting the president."

Now, 25 years later, Jones-Pinkney returned to Emma E. Booker Elementary with her own second-grade daughter, Layla.

"Being there, reading to the president, shaped our lives," Jones-Pinkney said. "Like, that's something we'll never forget."