A veteran teacher with over 35 years experience, the author reflects on the events of September 11, 2001, and how the events of that day demonstrated that teachers fulfill many shifting roles in their students' lives. Here, he shares his own feelings of profound sadness for all the victims on that day, and discusses how the roles of teachers often shift from counselor, to mentor, to confidante in the secondary classroon. He talks about how profoundly the world changed for his students that day, and presents questions that everyone must keep asking in order to constantly search for ways to improve society: (1) What does it mean to be a teacher in a democracy?; (2) What should students know and be able to do in a world that may hold more challenge than promise?; (3) How can teachers prepare students for an increasingly hostile world?; (4) What does it mean to be a servant of the people? (5) Why is it unimportant to speak of Americans as red or blue?; and (6) What does it mean to be an American? He concludes by saying that if anything, the events of September 11, 2001, demonstrate that roles of teachers are more important than ever to the lives and futures of all of the students, and the future of this country. The new challenge for teachers is to instill in their students students a love for the freedom that gave, and continues to give, millions of courageous immigrants the impetus to move from thousands of miles away to create new lives.