Matt Riley
News Editor
Each year, NCHS holds an assembly focused on remembering the tragic events of 9/11. This year, the assembly held on September 15 not only focused on recalling the events of 13 years ago, but also on what can be done to ensure that future generations are aware of the impacts of 9/11.
Social studies teacher Richard Webb, who has helped organize the assembly over the past several years, stressed awareness as a key reason to hold the assembly every year. “With every grade, my students remember less about the events of 9/11,” he said. “It was so long ago. After all these years of fighting, we need to remember what we’re fighting for. 9/11 is the tragedy that pushed America to where we are today.”
Junior Mary Taylor, who participated in an internship at Voices of September 11th (a local organization that focuses on understanding, remmbering, and spreading knowledge of the 9/11 tragedy) this past summer, has noticed a similar trend. “It’s almost as if 9/11 is becoming a statistic, or an essay topic,” she said. “People have to remember how connected we all are to what happened and the lives we lost.”
Senior Steven Singer, who also participated in the Voices of September 11th internship, also feels it is important for students to be aware of the impacts of 9/11. “9/11 still has an incredible impact on our lives in ways we see and in ways we don’t see,” he said. “It’s going to continue to impact us for a long time.”
Mary and Steven shared their experiences from this summer’s internship at this year’s assembly, which they hope will help maintain awareness about 9/11. “We need to hear from people who were impacted by it, and learning even more from our fellow classmates helps keep 9/11 in our minds,” he said. “I hope people can get a glimpse of not only what 9/11 means to our community, but to the world.”
It was the 9/11 Assembly that initially influenced Steven to take part in this summer’s internship. “I immediately took interest in the internship after watching last year’s interns help out at the assembly,” he said. “I knew working with 9/11 would be a really valuable experience for me to have because 9/11 is something we should never forget.”
Mary had a similar motivation to participate in the internship. “I decided to get involved with the internship after reading Bonnie McEneaney‘s book called Messages: Signs, Visits, and Premonitions from Loved Ones Lost on 9/11 when I was in 7th grade,” she said. After going to the 9/11 assembly in 9th grade, I walked up to Mr. Webb and explained how interested I was in sharing my understanding with other people.”
Whether it is through recounts of the events of 9/11 or new findings from interns, those involved in the annual 9/11 assembly hope the students take away something memorable. “This assembly was created not only to educate kids on 9/11 but to let them know what they can do moving forward,” Mr. Webb said. “Remembering and understanding 9/11 is important to ensure that we won’t leave that tragedy as a topic in a history book–we will continue to work around class time to hold this assembly every year.”
Mary felt similarly. “I hope everyone walks away realizing how significant 9/11 is,” she said. “If we need to remind the students every year, that’s what we will do.”
