On Monday, October 7th, the senior grade visited the National 9/11 Memorial. The program started before we even went to the memorial. On the Thursday before, the seniors watched a powerful video about 9/11 and listen to a meaningful speech from Rabbi Rosenblum about his personal connection to that day. We were also each given the name of someone who died during the terrorist attack to search a little bit about them ahead of time. At the memorial, we split up into groups with faculty members where we discussed what happened on September 11, 2001 and everybody shared about the person they researched. We then had the opportunity to find the name of our person on the panels and trace the name onto paper to memorialize the person. The memorial was an extremely unique place because so much thought was put into every detail. We saw the two pools where the Twin Towers used to be and listened to water crashing down by the fountains. In the middle of the fountain, the water flowed into an opening that seemed endless because you could not see what was at the bottom.
When we got back to school, each class had a session with a faculty member who came to the memorial. We spoke about what it means to memorialize something and how we were affected by the experience. We also discussed what it meant to be an American as well as a Jew living in America. We ended the conversation with suggestions on how we could give back to our local communities. It was obvious by the overall mood back in school that all the seniors were truly impacted by the visit and gained a lot from it. We will remember this meaningful experience for the rest of our lives.
~Isaac Dayon, Senior Council 2014 President
