9 September 2026
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This Friday marks 25 years since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 – a day that changed the world and the lives of countless people forever.
As we remember all those who lost their lives and those who were impacted by the events of that day, the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) also reflects on a remarkable story from within the early childhood education sector – one that speaks to the profound responsibility educators take on when children are placed in their care, and the courage and commitment that responsibility can call upon in the most extraordinary of circumstances.
We share their remarkable story below:
On 11 September 2001, as the world watched the unimaginable events unfold in New York City, a group of early childhood educators working at the Children's Discovery Centre had one overriding priority – keeping the children in their care safe.
It was a seemingly ordinary Tuesday morning at their early learning service, situated in World Trade Centre Building 5, less than 100 metres from the Twin Towers.
Babies and young children, ranging in age from just a few months to four years old, were arriving for the day. Some of their parents worked in the World Trade Centre complex.
At 8.46 am, American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower.
Inside the Children's Discovery Centre, educators heard an enormous noise overhead and soon saw people running through the streets outside. At that stage, they didn't know what had happened – only that some kind of emergency was unfolding and the children could be in danger.
Without hesitation, they began evacuating the children.
Fourteen educators and staff moved quickly to get all of the children outside, carrying babies and helping the older children walk. They were still unsure of what was unfolding or what lay ahead.
An evacuation into the unknown
One of the educators, Onica Sarjeant, wasn't yet at work when the first plane struck.
She had just emerged from a nearby subway station with her almost four-year-old son, Yavne’el Montano, who also attended the service, when she saw “a gaping hole” in the North Tower.
Despite the chaos around her, she continued towards her workplace, later recalling that she needed to find the other educators and children and know they were safe.
She and her son found the group sitting at the edge of a nearby cemetery, where the educators had gathered with the children after evacuating the centre.
In the urgency of the evacuation, they had left everything behind – their phones, purses, money and personal belongings. They had only the children and what they had managed to carry with them.
Minutes later, at 9.03 am, the second plane struck the South Tower.
The educators quickly gathered up the children and began running. Some educators carried two children at once while another child held onto their clothing. Others held children's hands as they moved through the streets of Lower Manhattan.
As they made their way through the chaos, the educators and children became separated into smaller groups. Their focus remained firmly on getting the children as far away from the World Trade Centre as possible.
And then the towers began to collapse.
“The ground is rumbling and we see this huge black cloud just rolling down the street towards us. It looks like a gigantic monster or something… unbelievable,” recalls Tara Jones, one of the educators who was caring for the children that morning.
With the enormous cloud of dust and debris bearing down on them, the educators desperately tried to put as much distance as possible between the children and the collapsing towers – carrying babies, urging the older children onwards and moving as quickly as they could through the streets.
At one point, they reached a supermarket where staff kindly provided them with free water and crackers. With many of the children too young to keep moving at the pace required, the educators placed them into shopping trolleys and pushed them along so they could continue their escape more quickly.
As dust and debris filled the air, strangers stopped to help. Some removed their own shirts and gave them to the educators to help cover and protect the babies.
Finding safety and trying to contact parents
One group of educators and children eventually found refuge in a church after travelling around three miles, while another made its way to St Clare's Hospital, where staff provided a room and cots for the children.
But reaching safety presented another challenge. In the urgency of the evacuation, the educators had left behind their phones, purses and the children's contact information. They had no way of contacting parents to let them know where their children were and that they were safe.
Instead, they reached out to major television and radio news outlets, asking them to broadcast the children's whereabouts in the hope that the message would reach their families.
For parents desperately searching for their children amid the chaos of that day, the wait was agonising. Art Chang, father of 17-month-old Ben, recalled: “On the one hand I’m thinking about the worst that could happen. On the other hand I just felt so confident that they would have given their lives for them.”
Hours passed before Mr Chang and his wife finally received word that Ben was alive and well and waiting to be picked up.
“All the kids were lying in their cots with blankets, having just had their nap time, as if nothing had gone wrong,” he recalled with an incredulous laugh.
As news of the children's safety and whereabouts finally reached all of their families, parents were able to make their way to the two locations and be reunited with their children.
Back at the World Trade Centre, Building 5, which had housed the daycare centre, had been struck by large amounts of falling debris when the two towers came down. Parts of its upper floors had collapsed and fires had spread through the building – a stark reminder of the life-saving decision the educators had made to evacuate the children when they did.
Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the educators and staff, all 28 babies and young children evacuated from the Children's Discovery Centre survived the events of that day.
“We had to keep them safe”
Twenty-five years later, some of the educators, children and parents have reflected on what happened that day in a new short documentary produced by independent nonprofit newsroom Retro Report.
For the educators, their actions weren't something they had time to contemplate. They had children in their care. Their job was to protect them.
Teacher Tara Jones perhaps expresses it most simply in the documentary: “We had to keep them safe. Those were our babies.”
The children themselves are adults now. Onica Sarjeant's son, Yavne’el Montano, who was almost four years old when his mother led him and the other children away from the World Trade Centre, is now 28 – the same age his mother was on 9/11.
Reflecting on what his mother did that day, Yavne’el describes her as the bravest person he knows. Now old enough to fully appreciate the enormity of what she faced – and the courage it took to keep him and the other children safe – he says he never really had the opportunity to thank her.
Twenty-five years later, his message to her is simple: “Thank you, Mom, for saving me.”
Remembering 25 years on
Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Thousands more were injured, and countless families and communities were forever changed.
On the 25th anniversary, we remember those who lost their lives, those who survived and all those who continue to live with the impact of that day.
We also remember the extraordinary actions of the educators and staff of the Children's Discovery Centre.
Their story is an exceptional example of something early childhood educators understand deeply – the responsibility that comes with being entrusted with the safety and wellbeing of someone else's child.
None of these educators could have imagined the circumstances they would face when they arrived at work that morning.
Yet, confronted with extraordinary danger and uncertainty, they put the children first.
Twenty-five years later, their courage, care and commitment deserve to be remembered.
Their actions that day remain an extraordinary testament to their bravery, dedication and unwavering commitment to the children in their care.
Watch and hear their story in their own words
We have provided links to two short videos below, which each offer different perspectives on the extraordinary story of the Children's Discovery Center educators and the children they brought to safety on 9/11.
PLEASE NOTE: The videos contain first-hand recollections and footage of the events of 11 September 2001, including material that some viewers may find distressing.
Chaos and Escape: How Day Care Teachers Saved Dozens of Children on 9/11
This 2026 documentary from independent nonprofit newsroom Retro Report brings together educators, a parent and one of the children – now an adult – to recount what happened that morning and their desperate journey to safety.
Emotional Reunion Between Family & Day Care Worker Who Saved Children on 9/11
This earlier television segment looks back on the evacuation and includes an emotional reunion between educator Karen Caycedo and Art Chang and his son Ben, who was just 18 months old when Karen helped carry him to safety on 9/11. Ben was 16 when the segment was filmed. He would now be approximately 26 years old.
