They were loved by their families, their colleagues and, maybe most of all, by their students. From all accounts, Washington, D.C., teachers Sarah Clark, James Debeuneure and Hilda Taylor exemplified the best of the teaching profession. They died on Sept. 11 when the American Airlines plane they were on crashed into the Pentagon.

"Three teachers who were pillars of strength are gone," AFT president Sandra Feldman told those gathered at a Washington Teachers Union (WTU) memorial service for the teachers. "They were tireless, committed and dedicated teachers."

Backus Middle School teacher Clark was accompanying sixth-grade student Asia Cottom on the flight that was to have taken them to California to attend an ecology conference sponsored by the National Geographic Society. Debeuneure, a teacher at Ketcham Elementary, was with Ketcham student Rodney Dickens; and Taylor was traveling with Leckie Elementary sixth-grader Bernard Brown. The youngsters--all 11 years old--were being rewarded for their outstanding classroom performance.

Dr. Paul Vance, superintendent of schools for the District of Columbia, said their colleagues told him they knew exactly what the teachers were doing when the plane crashed--comforting the three students they were chaperoning.

Clark, her school's WTU building representative, had taught in the D.C. public schools since 1965. She was engaged to marry John Wesley, a one-time member of the paraprofessional chapter of the Baltimore Teachers Union. Taylor was remembered by Leckie building representative Jeannie Johnson as a teacher who brought her classroom lessons to life through field trips and inventive projects. Leona Johnson, Ketcham's building representative, remembered Debeuneure as a role model for the school's staff and students, especially the boys.

"It's a blessing to know that my father was loved, to know that his work was not in vain," Jacques Debeuneure said following the memorial service. "It's a blessing to know he was doing what he loved. Teaching was his calling."