The free online course material - covering kindergarten to 12th grade - has already garnered the interest of teachers from Missouri, Maine, Mississippi, and Nevada to Australia, Belgium, France, and Britain.
John Salamone "was only 37; he missed his kids' whole childhood," said his wife, cofounder of Families of September 11, a nonprofit group advocating for those affected by the attack. "The story couldn't end there for me.
"It couldn't be about hate," she said. "Out of his death, positive things had to grow. He didn't die for no reason."
Salamone said the loss of her husband "inspired me and I inspired the curriculum, and maybe the curriculum will inspire hundreds and thousands of kids. Then, one death will make a huge difference and I can sleep better at night."
The curriculum - called "Learning From the Challenges of Our Times: Global Security, Terrorism, and 9/11 in the Classroom" - was used by dozens of educators across the state as part of a pilot program during the 2009-10 school year. It's not mandated to be taught in the public schools.
"Changing young minds and making them open to new thoughts and possibilities is where real change occurs," said Derrick Owings, a Cherry Hill High School West teacher who taught the curriculum as part of the pilot effort. The new subject "was a source of animated discussion. I wanted students to display and vent their emotions. That's where everything begins."
This year, Owings said he'll teach the 9/11 course to his ninth-grade world civilization classes and 11th- and 12th-grade psychology classes. "We'll look at the psychology of terrorism," he said. "What makes a seemingly rational, mentally healthy human being into a terrorist?
"And from a world civilization side," he said, "we'll look at the history of human behavior through conflict and turmoil. One man's terrorist is another man's patriot."
