Students with President Bush on 9/11 look back on day: 'You could see it on his face'

On September 11, 2001, then-President George W. Bush was in Sarasota, Florida, visiting Emma E. Booker Elementary School when he received news of the nation being under attack. Second-grader Krystal Davis remembered a wave of confusion overwhelming her and her classmates upon hearing the news. A concerned Bush, who was earlier listening to the children read in Mrs. Sandra Daniels' class, later recalled the shift in expression when he was informed of the tragic events.

Teacher Daniels noted the change in Bush's demeanor as soon as he was informed of the attack. Students were moved to a different room, where they watched the news on a television and learned about the World Trade Center and Pentagon being attacked. Former Florida resident Stevenson Tose-Rigell, son of the school principal, was in the school library when the president arrived to give a speech on his education policy, but the speech was abruptly interrupted by the news of the attacks.

Back at the school, the children were moved to a different room where they watched the images of the Twin Towers crashing down on television. The school later commemorated the 25th anniversary of 9/11 by displaying a steel beam from the World Trade Center, which serves as a poignant reminder of the lives lost on that tragic day.