On the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Oyster Bay High School is remembering Brooke Jackman, a member of the Class of 1996 whose life and legacy remain deeply connected to Oyster Bay.
Jackman grew up in Oyster Bay and graduated from Oyster Bay High School before attending Columbia University, where she majored in women’s studies and graduated in 2000. Fluent in Spanish and Italian, she initially pursued a career in publishing before following in the footsteps of her father and brother and taking a job on Wall Street.
But Jackman was already beginning to imagine a different path for herself. On the evening of Sept. 10, 2001, she told her mother that there was more to life than making money and that Wall Street wasn’t for her. She wanted a career centered on helping others and was applying to graduate programs at Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, to pursue a master’s degree in social work.
She would never have the opportunity to take that next step. The following morning, the 23-year-old was working for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred. She was among the 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees who died that day.
But those final hours are only one part of Jackman’s story.
Known affectionately as “Brookie Cookie” and “The Brookster,” Jackman was fiercely independent, determined and compassionate. She had a remarkable memory, recalling details from years-old conversations and even what someone had been wearing on a particular day. She was also rarely without a book.
“She was never without her books,” recalled her sister, Erin Jackman.
Jackman’s desire to help others had been evident long before she considered a career in social work. As a high school student, she volunteered at a soup kitchen, a thrift shop benefiting cancer patients and a school for children with disabilities.
“She was beautiful. She was smart. School was always important to her. Her friends were always important to her. Her family was always important to her,” Erin said. “She thought everyone should be included. She was just a great friend.”
Brooke’s childhood friend Michael Oziel remembers how much her hometown meant to her.
“She loved Oyster Bay and loved being a part of Oyster Bay and obviously all the friends she made over the years,” he said. “I know Oyster Bay always held a special place in her heart.”
In the years since, Jackman’s family has ensured that the qualities that defined her life continue to make a difference in the lives of others. They established the Brooke Jackman Foundation, bringing together two things that mattered deeply to her: literacy and helping children.
Since 2002, the foundation has distributed more than 1 million books and 125,000 “Brooke Packs” filled with books and school supplies to children in underserved communities across the country.
Twenty-five years after Sept. 11, Jackman’s story is also being carried forward by a new generation of Oyster Bay students.
Students from Bay News Now, Oyster Bay High School’s student broadcast program, interviewed Brooke’s family and friends to learn about the person behind the name and her connection to the same school and community they know today. Their feature is being shared with the school community on the 25th anniversary of the attacks, helping ensure that students who were born years after 2001 understand that Sept. 11 is not only part of national history. It is part of Oyster Bay’s history.
For high school history teacher David Pontillo, who attended Oyster Bay High School with Jackman, that connection matters.
"It’s not just a textbook lesson,” Pontillo said. “Brooke sat here. She was in this school. She went here. She was part of the community. So it’s not just a history thing. It’s an Oyster Bay thing.”
Jackman was a student who once walked these halls, sat in these classrooms and built friendships here. Thirty years after her graduation and 25 years after her death, her compassion, love of learning and commitment to others continue to reach far beyond Oyster Bay.
