Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Fifth-grade students at Olga Brener Intermediate School stand around a red, white and blue paper chain Friday afternoon and sing “God Bless America” in commemoration of Sept. 11, 2001. The 170 students made the 3,000 links on the chain to commemorate each life lost that day.
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Domanic Helder, a fifth-grade student at Olga Brener, helps to gather the chain as other students surround the pile. The chain, when stretched out, covered the entire perimeter of a grass field behind the school.
None of the 170 children in Olga Brener Intermediate School’s fifth-grade class were alive on Sept. 11, 2001, but all of them came together Friday to remember the dark day in American history and honor those who died that day.
The students gathered behind the grassy field behind the school with a red, white and blue paper chain of 3,000 links, symbolizing the number of people killed at the site of the Twin Towers in New York, at the Pentagon and on Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.
They formed a circle with the chain, then walked together and put the chain in a pile and sang “God Bless America.”
Teacher Karen Preston coordinated the activity, which she started years ago with her own class. However, it soon became evident that the 24 students in her class could not make 3,000 links, so she got the other fifth-grade classes involved.
“Since they’re the oldest ones in the school, I thought this was an appropriate age for them to start understanding the events of 9/11 and commemorating it in a way that was meaningful,” Preston said.
The teachers are also encouraging the students to talk with their parents, grandparents and other family members to learn more about what happened. Also, with the advancement of video websites such as YouTube, students were able to see documentaries and other footage from that day.
Preston remembers where she was 14 years ago on Sept. 11: teaching fifth-grade students at Shawano Community Middle School. With limited Internet access, teachers were finding out what had happened via two televisions at the school. She also remembered getting phone calls throughout the day from a neighbor who gave her updates about what was on the news.
“I remember being pretty shaken and a little bit nervous about the kids who might be going home to an empty house and maybe click the TV on and be scared,” Preston said. “We were at a loss about whether we should tell them anything, and I don’t remember what our actual decision was.”
Preston said she hopes the students will write about Sept. 11 in their writing journals and talk about their feelings.
Arland Dillenburg, a fifth-grade student, said it’s important to keep the memory of that day alive, not only to remember history, but also to remember the people.
“You can imagine how many lives were lost, with each of these rings being a person,” Dillenburg said, indicating the chain on the ground. “It’s very important to learn about history to know how your ancestors gave their lives to help other people.”
Fifth-grader Riley Dreier imagined that the people who were her age 14 years ago must have been really scared as events were unfolding.
“One of my grandparents’ friends survived 9/11,” Dreier said. “You want to keep history going and make sure people know. It’s sad how many lives got lost.”
Preston hopes her students will appreciate history, especially with what happened, by remembering this day, but she also hopes they’ll think about what happened afterward and try to give back to their community and country.
“I don’t want them to dwell on the sad part, but rather remember the resilience of the American people and what we’ve done,” Preston said. “9/11 is now actually a day of service, so I want them to realize, even though it was sad, they can make a difference in a positive way.”