Citing what they called a rapidly deteriorating collective memory of Sept. 11, 2001, a 9/11 family group that includes several Staten Islanders announced yesterday that it has partnered with educators to create a nationwide school curriculum on the subject. The World Trade Center United Family group is seeking to overcome a dearth of teaching resources on 9/11.

While details of the proposed curriculum were somewhat limited, the plan centers on an oral history project that calls for interviewing as many as 80 survivors, family members and eyewitnesses to serve as a factual and emotional base for classroom discussions.

"I want [students] to know that these were not just names or statistics, but these were people, these were innocent people who were killed and that their loss is a great void in so many lives of the people they left behind," said Patricia Reilly, 45, of New Dorp, a chairwoman of the World Trade Center United Family group.

Full funding for the curriculum has yet to be secured, but the group
hopes to complete its National 9/11/01 Civic Education Program in time
for the 2007-08 school year.