Glendale teacher left job at World Trade Center 2 months before 9/11 attacks

GLENDALE, Ariz. (3TV/CBS 5) — A Glendale teacher says her decision to change professions in the months before the 9/11 attacks saved her life, as well as the life of her husband.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Suzanne DeStefano was driving to a California school where she taught kindergarten when she heard the news on the radio about the terror attacks. It was two months to the day, July 11, that she left her job on the 99th floor of the north tower to pursue a career in education. Her fiancé, who worked in the south tower, also left his job to move to California. They were married on Aug. 11, 2001.

American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower between the 93rd and 99th floors. DeStefano says she lost everyone she knew and worked with on the 99th floor. Her husband’s cousin, a New York City firefighter, also died.

Now, 22 years later, DeStefano is the headmaster of Archway Glendale, part of the Great Hearts charter school network in Arizona that teaches students from kindergarten through fifth grade. On Monday morning, she spoke with Good Morning Arizona anchor Tess Rafols about her memories of that tragic day. Watch the video above for DeStefano’s story.

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