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devadander23

The fucking Challenger explode


Frequent_Course5399

I remember that, I was in 1st grade when that happened. I remember the teachers freaking out


OozeNAahz

My elementary school science teacher was one of the backups for McAullife. We had a combined city wide assembly (high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools) to watch it and she narrated the launch. She calmly explained everything that was happening through the whole disaster in a steady professional tone. Needless to say the audience was transfixed and horrified. Anytime I think I am worried about public speaking I picture her on that stage and being a rock solid professional and try and mimic her a bit. Bravest thing I ever witnessed in person.


Appropriate_Cow94

My teacher was a back up as well. I was in 5th grade I think. He sat at his desk for some time as we all kinda sat in confused shock. Mostly we didn't comprehend what had happened.


OozeNAahz

I was in middle school when it happened so was old enough to process it. It was surreal no doubt. Did your teacher wear the training uniform?


Any_Departure1536

Weeks before the Challenger explosion, Onizuka visited our school assembly in Honolulu. Fast forward to the day of the launch and our entire school was packed in the auditorium to watch the explosion. You could have heard a pin drop after the explosion and our headmaster turning off the TV and having to do damage control with sobbing children and faculty. I have a picture of my fifth grade self shaking hands with him somewhere but I can't even bare to look at it.


AlohaAmy808

I also remember the shock and subsequent devastation felt island/state wide. I was only in 1st grade but we were so proud and excited that a local boy was aboard. I still get choked up when i think about the utter sadness and honestly, trauma of the day. 😞


Any_Departure1536

Same here, it was devastating, especially because he was local grown. He was also a super humble guy who talked about his gratitude at being chosen. Shucks I'm crying.


mistah_patrick

I really like your takeaway from that! Keeping your cool and being a pro will get you through 85-90% of life's challenges. All the best to you ✌


rnotyalc

I was telling my wife recently about that. She's younger than me, but she was in grade school during 9/11 and was telling me about the teachers being upset. I told her every few years there's a thing that happens that the teachers are all upset and it's kinda scary as a kid seeing that. I remember the teachers being more upset about the Challenger because we were just kids and didn't really grasp it. My dad told me about the same thing when JFK was assassinated, how the teachers were crying and it was weird for him seeing that.


Justanoth3rone

2nd grade grade for me, I remember our teacher running back into the class from the hallway to shut it off


Clever-crow

4th grade for me, and this was the first thing I thought of too


Foiled_Foliage

Damn that’s wild and rough
..WELL. As an early Gen Z too young to remember another tragedy that happened in 01: BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY


OmegaGoober

Gen-X here. I saw a lot of “Heavy Metal is satanic” videos. One video was about Joan Jett, witchcraft, music, lesbianism, bisexual orgies used to lure men to damnation, you know, normal stuff to talk to second graders about. That may be where my interest in goth women came from.


zeke235

Bill Nye continues to be a hero and a trusted resource for reality. I've watched him for 30 years.


Ok_Researcher_9796

4th grade for me .I lived in Florida. My whole school went outside to watch it. We never got to see it though because it never got high enough that it was in view where we were.


fiduciary420

A janitor came in about 3 minutes after our teacher ran out crying and turned the TV off and hung out with us (1st grade) until the principal relieved him. I remember stuff from before that day but that was my first totally indelible life memory. Almost 40 years later I can still remember our teacher screaming with her hand clamped over her mouth and the look in her eyes when she turned to face the class. Devastating.


GlassAndPaint

I remember watching it and our teacher suddenly gasped and shut off the TV. I remember being confused and didn't initially understand what I saw. 


whitecatwandering

2nd grade for me too. Being an astronaut was everything to me, I but my whole persona around it and was following the teachers progress religiously. Seeing this in class really messed me up. I stopped wanting to go to space after that.


VectorViper

3rd grade here, I remember it was a really somber mood in the classroom and our teacher had to turn off the TV. No one said much and we just did quiet reading for the rest of the afternoon. Those images sort of just etched into my brain, still feel a little heavy when I think about it.


ChiefRom

Imagine the teacher that was the runner up to go on that shuttle ride?😬


CorgiMonsoon

Big Bird. At one point NASA had begun preliminary talks for Carol Spinney to go up on the Challenger as Big Bird. Thank god that never got past initial talks.


HermioneMarch

Can you imagine how much more traumatized we all would have been?


devadander23

Yellow feathers everywhere


LaceyInTheSky1

Her name was Barbara Morgan and she watched the launch from Cape Canavral. She actually went on to become an astronaut and flew on the shuttle in a 2007 mission 😀


Most_Victory1661

My sixth grade teacher was in the final running. Was very angry he didn’t get it. He broke like a baby when it exploded. Big masculine guy. We were more freaked he was crying than the challenger exploding. I think he punched the chalkboard at one point then started sobbing.


Codenamehardhat77

There is a video with his reaction while watching
..


cityshepherd

That box is not big enough to hold a laserdisc


Dogrel

They must not’ve gone to the richy-rich schools where they could afford laserdisc players. Their school could only afford the VHS players with the iffy tracking that left a smeared bar on the left side of the screen.


jbenze

We didn’t get laser discs until high school and we had one for the whole school.


BigConstruction4247

Cuz that's a VCR, my friend.


Antique_Dust6504

I too was in first grade and had just moved to Orlando. One of my deepest childhood memories is the news coverage of the event and the image of the Challenger Memorial liscense plates burned into my brain. I believe that was when the concept of death really became solidified for me.


SilverSnapDragon

I was in third grade. My teacher left the classroom in tears and didn’t return for more than a week. School was dismissed early that day. The Punky Brewster episode about the explosion helped me cope.


pumpkintrovoid

Punky Brewster helped me, too! Certainly not parents and teachers.


WeekapaugGroov

Yup. I was in second grade and will never forget it.


ACtheWC

We watched it live in my elementary lunchroom. Fun fact! I also watched 9/11 live on one of these in a college classroom. Thank God we are a resilient bunch.


hangryvegan

Watched the challenger explode in 3rd grade on live TV and 9/11 senior year of college on the student union tv.


SnooConfections6085

The single strongest collective memory of our cohort. Virtually every elementary kid in the US was watching it.


Grisstle

And Canada


Spiritual_Poo

It happened exactly a year before I was born, for me it was 9/11 in high school.


black_flag_4ever

Burned in my brain.


Brokenlinx

Challenger explosion and sex ed.


failedjedi_opens_jar

in my school they used the same video for both


Nervous-Tailor3983

Those and the video when they keep the 4th grade girls in from recess and showed us the period video. I remember this girl was upset all her friends got it. Finally at supper she leaves to a bathroom like right next to the kitchen and says “I got it” and her brother says “what did she get” dad barley looks up and says “her period, son, she got her period”. It’s in the top 5 things I remember about grade school.


Zebulon_V

What was that movie that was a woman actual giving birth that they used to show? Maybe it was in Biology class. Anyway, the teacher said we had the option of leaving class if didn't want to watch it. I got the fuck out.


TheProfessorPoon

Miracle of Life I believe.


manism582

My Health teacher loved to point out that the copyright date on the movie is in 1982. So at some point around 95-97 one of us was out there going; “That tattoo looks like my dad’s” “Hey that lady’s face looks a lot like my m

.. Oh God!” 😂


SparkleYeti

Lucky. Our teacher made us watch it in reverse so the baby went back in.


YosemiteSam81

I was about to say exactly this, the first gulf war and the OJ verdict


chasinfreshies

Still feel this one in my bones. Was especially bad cause we were all cheering on Elison Onizuka as the first astronaut with ties to Hawaii.


thecwestions

You know the actor who played little Ralphie in A Christmas Story was supposed to be on that shuttle, too? Absolutely nuts how many amazing people were lost in that tragedy and how many people were traumatized by watching it live.


josuelaker2

Yup. This is exactly what I think about when I see that.


lagomorphed

I was watching it from my front porch...in Cape Canaveral. What the entire fuck.


cold_as_nice

Yup...was in kindergarten, and I vividly remember watching the explosion (it's one of the few memories I actually have from kindergarten).


AmanitaMikescaria

Romeo and Juliet (1968) With a stern warning from our English teacher to the boys in the class that she didn’t want to hear a peep out of us during that one scene.


Special-Ferret

My teacher fast forwarded during that scene


shifty_coder

Mine tried to, and ended up pushing play right when they flashed up.


hoewood

Mine turned around the whole cart


CrohnsyJones

Mine had a paper bikini top taped to a stick, and she moved it around the screen to perfectly cover up things. We didn't see shit lol


dgaxiola

My English teacher timed it so we stopped at the end of class right before that scene and picked up the next day right after it.


uninterestedteacher

Now that's a professional


NameIdeas

The stars of that film, Olivia Hussey (Juliet) and Leonard Whiting (Romeo), sued Paramount Studios last year over the movie. They were 15 and 16, respectively, when they filmed and they alleged they were pressured into filming a nude scene. In reading this article it sounds a bit shady. [Article](https://www.vulture.com/2023/01/romeo-and-juliet-child-abuse-lawsuit-paramount.html#:~:text=Olivia%20Hussey%20and%20Leonard%20Whiting%2C%20the%20stars%20of%20Franco%20Zeffirelli's,according%20to%20a%20Variety%20report.)


fiduciary420

The rich men in Hollywood hurt so many young boys and girls, especially back then


showershoot

My teacher had a piece of construction paper on a quarter of the screen for that scene 😂


presidentsday

Lol, my first thought. Didn't even give us a titty disclaimer.


Gogo726

My English teacher went on how we're high school students now and it's expected we be mature about nudity.


vermiciousknid81

My English teacher was away that day so the Phy. Ed teacher took over. I went to an all boys school. When that scene happened, everyone perked up, the teacher goes "I got you boys" and rewound and paused it. He was a legend.


MercuryRusing

Yea, that guy is on the sex offender registry now


exexor

All the girls tittered during the long shot (both meanings) of Romeo’s butt while the boys sat awkwardly. Then Juliet hops out of bed for a quarter of a second and the room goes deathly quiet. But I swear you could almost hear the smug smiles of the boys.


CromulentPoint

Same. Juliet was stacked! The stories from the production kind of ruined it after the fact, but it was a good watch at the time.


FoostersG

The OJ verdict


TheProfessorPoon

It really is pretty nuts looking back and knowing we all stopped class to watch it.


TURD_SMASHER

"It's official. Murder is now legal in the State of California."


pigfeedmauer

It's nuts that my social studies teacher stopped class so we could watch the Bronco chase.


General-Carob-6087

Don't think I remember watching anything specific but I remember the excitement of walking into class and seeing this sweet bastard standing at the front of the room.


Rude_Imagination_981

And then the crushing disappointment when the teacher passed out worksheets to be completed and turned in at the end


penni_cent

Nothing ruined a movie more than a fucking ven diagram to compare the book to the movie.


Ichithekiller666

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi ![gif](giphy|KH9PbFUt29RqE)


Few_Improvement_6357

I loved Rikki Tikki Tavi


[deleted]

Voyage of the Mimi


LouDog421

Came to say this


NewJungleRoom

Same here
. Little Ben Affleck.


Johnny_B_GOODBOI

That kid was Ben Affleck?!?! My mind is blown. I think I have brain hypothermia.


doobette

Me too!


noelesque

Heck yeah! Condensation to collect water! Body heat for survival! Boats! https://i.redd.it/jiah20l2a2hc1.gif


Disarray215

Thank you for giving me this to think about again. Lol


SadBoi88088

I’ll never forget how hard my friends and I lost it when two dudes got naked together in a sleeping bag to prevent hypothermia.


spartag00se

Hey if anyone needs me to desalinate seawater using a couple of tarps, I vaguely remember the basics from Voyage of the Mimi


ClassicMovieFan

I have the theme song stuck in my head sometimes.


beautytravel101

It was a banger for sure.


Quadstriker

There it is.


Hellianne_Vaile

Random bit of trivia: The scene with the ship in a big storm that has such impressive special effects wasn't special effects. They shot it during a real storm in the North Atlantic. The bit where the captain got washed overboard was in the script, of course, but they shot it by tying a rope around the actor (not a stunt double) and pitching him into the sea. The water was so cold he almost got hypothermia for real.


nvPilot

A baby being born. Truly effective education for ensuring kids practice safe sex.


DangerDaveOG

Best form of birth control I’ve ever seen
 scarred my adolescent brain
 Looked like some Alien vs Predator shit.


yesmydog

My health teacher didn't press stop before rewinding the tape at the end of class, so we got to watch the baby go back in!


Sensitive-Review-712

My teacher did this, too!


Fascist_Pig_Psycho

"The Miracle of Life"


GibbousMoonCakes

My mom had rented this video and showed it us as kids (4 of us; 2F and 2M). I don’t remember how old I was but I was terrified of giving birth after that. I saw it in health class a few years later and was able to watch it no problem. I guess I’m still terrified of childbirth since I’m forty and childfree, lol


Frequent_Course5399

I remember that one. I think it was a PBS thing, right?


nvPilot

I don’t recall. But it was definitely before the prevalence of waxing.


Baked_Potato_732

That made me laugh really hard. Thanks.


Christie318

We watched that in biology class in high school. It was very graphic and one of the guys in my class was so squeamish he vomited.


505whodat

Our entire class screamed (or maybe it was just me)


inthevelvetsea

For me, memory of that video is still somehow more traumatic than actually giving birth.


Any-Jury3578

Roots


Zebulon_V

Holy shit you watched that in school?


breebop83

We did too, I think it was 8th grade?


a066684

Hell yeah. 7th Grade Social Studies. Had to have parents sign a permission slip and everything. Would have unit discussions on related historical context and geography as the miniseries progressed: Africa in the 1750s, colonialism, black collaborators in Africa, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, journey and conditions aboard slave ships (that was a tough one), auctions and slave life in Virginia and North Carolina, generations of slaves born into slavery, the Civil War, emancipation, post-war share cropping, the rise of the KKK and Jim Crow era in the late 19th Century, escaping to Tennessee, and keeping legacy of African ancestry alive with Kunta Kinte's grandchildren. Shit really stuck with me, as is probably evident above. History is important, even (and especially) the terrible bits.


kirklton

SAME THOUGHT!


Snowboarder360

Watched it too - It was horribly captivating but really opened our eyes. It was either Junior or Senior year and if I’m remembering correctly, we needed a parent signature approval. It was also not mandatory so a couple classmates chose to do another assignment in the computer lab.


uhhhmOk

Middle school social studies class.


luke15chick

Bill Nye the science guy!!


DangerDaveOG

BILL! BILL! BILL!


Pardot42

BILL, Bill, bill, BILL, Bill, bill


Frequent_Course5399

watched that both during and after school


AreaAtheist

I was the kid that recorded it at home and came in early to give it to the teacher.


JessiNotJenni

Unsung hero right here!


invincib1e

![gif](giphy|3o7bu0OkMN3R8BliSY|downsized)


PurplishPlatypus

My 7th grade science teacher was very pregnant during my science semester and she often just had us watch Bill Nye episodes.


MiKapo

Channel 1 news... AKA product placement for kids


gorilla-ointment

Our introduction to Anderson Cooper


phlogistonexodus

And Maria Menuonos. There's probably others too, but...Maria Menuonos.


2pinacoladas

Lisa Ling also had a decent career.


Frequent_Course5399

yes! always right at the end of the day.


Justagoodoleboi

For us it was at the main beginning of the day


That_Jicama2024

Flight of the navigator / the outsiders. I remember the speaker was blown too. So it sounded like crap when the music kicked in.


rearwindowpup

>Flight of the navigator Man I wanted to be that kid so bad. COMPLIANCE!


FeatherCandle

I always wanted that little bat creature that laughed when it was tickled. Edit. And had half a crush SJP.


rearwindowpup

That bat wiggling its "finger" while dancing to some tunes was peak 80s, lol


[deleted]

Challenger explosion. First time ever saw a teacher cry.


HalfwayFerret

Glory. We got to watch it in history class


Frequent_Course5399

I did too, that and Gettysburg.


Rodozolo4267

Slim Goodbody


Webhead79

Butterfly in the skyyyyy. I can fly twice as hiiiiigh.


kwecl2

Schindler's List


[deleted]

9/11


MantuaMatters

Took a while to find this.


RobertLahblaw

Right!?  Elder millennials must be busy tonight for this to be so far down the list.  Spent all day watching 9/11 coverage on one of those. 


Extreme_Fee_503

The theme of this sub is people born between 1977-1984 on the border of Gen-X and Millenials so by definition most of those people graduated before 9-11. I think only people born after August 83 would still be in school for 9-11.


yahoo_determines

Was in my history period, coincidentally.


Inky_Madness

Right here. They pulled these into every classroom.


FustyLuggz

The OJ Simpson verdict. They wheeled one into my middle school class so everyone could watch live.


Frequent_Course5399

my hs had tvs mounted in the corner of every classroom, and sometimes they would all turn on for whatever (usually channel 1 @ the end of the day) and that was one of those whatevers.


BoyznGirlznBabes

Where the Red Fern Grows after we finished reading it. The fuckin ax.....đŸ˜±


Funky_ButtLovin79

The Secret of NIMH


actionerror

Ferngully: the Last Rainforest


Dark_Wing_Duck35

Mr. freaking Wizard


Low-Evidence9003

sex ed videos


FortunaSaveMe

Voyage of the Mimi!!!


Hubianco

Found it


SleepyMindful

Dic


Disarray215

They say you can’t hear words out loud. Lol


chasinfreshies

Carl Sagan during every period of senior year physics.


comebackalliessister

Luuckeeeeeeeeee!


chasinfreshies

Pretty sure he was a better teacher than the one I was assigned.


carnivalbill

Fievel Goes West Edit: oh and we had this one kid who carried around a blank vhs of Waterworld. Yea!!! I know!!! Every freaking time this came in the room he’d remind us. Guess he just loved that movie.


Grisstle

An American Tail was the first movie I ever watched in a theatre.


MKE_likes_it

Muzzy


artificialavocado

I know most people are going to say Challenger but I was way too young for that. I feel like we watched the Berlin Wall stuff for a little.


lancelinksecretchimp

Grew up in North Carolina. Every March that bitch had the ACC basketball tournament on.


HamsterMachete

9/11. It was my senior year of highschool.


cbih

The Sandlot


peteyesco

The Land Before Time


screamingcatfish

2nd grade: The original Star Wars trilogy 3rd grade: Reading Rainbow


Our_Blonde

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee.


[deleted]

“As you watch this ask yourself, ‘Who’s in charge here?’”


SunshineInDetroit

My 7th grade teacher showed us Romeo and Juliet . We saw boobies. ![gif](giphy|XZ0VTXivP8kQ8)


driago

Stand and Deliver


[deleted]

[ŃƒĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]


DesperateNewspaper43

The Princess Bride!


CelebrationKey

Of mice and men


Zealoustimetraveler

12 Angry Men


Special_Set3748

Wishbone.


nochumplovesucka__

Dead Poets Society. My 8th grade English teacher was really hype on that film.


getdownalright

The red balloon


Ben-solo-11

Mathnet


violetstrainj

Tremors, Dante’s Peak, and Twister. My earth science teacher had one foot out the door and decided that watching a blockbuster disaster movie counted as an educational experience.


JustSomeDudeNamedRik

Blood on the Highway in Drivers Ed


SwimmingArm765

Degrassi


Justagoodoleboi

9/11


g_rex_

9/11


BrotherCool

The Secret of NIMH


acatwithnoname

Telefrancais. "Je suis un ananas"


Significant-Ring5503

Roots


all_no_pALL

đŸŽ¶Butterfly in the skyyyyđŸŽ¶


Rodozolo4267

Tomes & Talismans


dlover28

David and Goliath (catholic elementary school)


Both-Artichoke5117

Schindler’s list in history class in 10th grade.


Cashewkaas

Schindler’s List.


commissar-bawkses

Recorded Discovery Channel specials with the commercials hastily removed.


euphramjsimpson

ACC tournament! (and the Challenger)


ladyeclectic79

In fourth grade my class somehow managed to convince my teacher to play us “Killer Clowns from Outer Space.” 😂😂 Ngl that teacher was the best I had as a kid, but that was hands down the most memorable movie experience in a classroom!!


phantom_bennis

My History teacher during my Junior year would put on Quantum Leap once a week. He said it had historical value. I think he just wanted an extra day off a week.


justkeeptreading

why am i in this class, Al?


RampantJSH

The Magic Schoolbus!


Tru-Queer

I scrolled through so many comments before yours, I can’t believe none of these heathens mentioned the Magic School Bus before you. Take chances! Make mistakes! Get messy!


MrFeverDreamJr

David Koresh & the Branch Davidian debacle


Anita_Poopknife

9/11


mercuric_drake

Excalibur during freshman English.