A Day to Remember: Tyrone Area School District program aims to educate next generation about 9/11
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TYRONE -- None of the Tyrone Area School District's current students were alive on Sept. 11, 2001. But for middle school Principal Shane Cowher and people of his generation, it is a day they will never forget.
"There are few events that are forever etched into our national psyche like 9/11," Cowher said at an assembly Thursday morning.
"Baby boomers will tell you that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy or the moon landing were such events. But for those of us who were entering adulthood in 2001, this was that event where every one of us can tell you exactly where we were when it occurred," he said to a group of students gathered outside near the school's flag pole where the Freedom Flag was raised for the first time.
The flag will be flown annually from Sept. 11 to Sept. 30 and on the 11th day of every month, district officials said. If the 11th day occurs on a weekend, the flag will be flown during the closest school day.
Many members of the Tyrone Boroughpolice department and several local fire departments -- Neptune, Warriors Mark-Franklin and Blazing Arrow Hook and Ladder -- attended the assembly. Pops, the district's show choir, sang John Lennon's "Imagine" at the conclusion of the event.
The assembly was broadcast live to every classroom in each of the district's schools. It is also available in its entirety on the Mirror's YouTube channel and www.altoonamirror.com.
Remembering 9/11
On Sept. 11, 2001, Cowher was a Penn State college student studying to become a history teacher.
Ironically, he was learning about another attack against the United States -- Pearl Harbor -- when his professor was informed of the attacks and stopped the lecture to watch live news coverage of the events.
Cowher recalled his professor saying, "Whatever we had planned for today, we can discuss later. We are watching history unfold right before our eyes."
As it turned out, his professor was correct, Cowher said, noting the attacks of 9/11 were the largest terrorist attacks ever carried out on American soil.
"The death toll that day reached nearly 3,000 individuals, eclipsing the deaths of Pearl Harbor by 500 casualties," Cowher said.
High school social studies teacher and Freedom Flag committee adviser John Coltabaugh was teaching students how to drive at the Bald Eagle Area School District in Centre County when the 9/11 attacks occurred.
Coltabaugh said he was oblivious to what was going on in New York City, Washington, D.C., and in a Somerset County field until he walked into the faculty room about 10:30 a.m. that day.
"Here I am, driving around town teaching people how to drive, and there's a major event going on and I had no clue," Coltabaugh said, noting it's important for people to pass along their life experiences to the next generation so they can learn about 9/11 and remember the heroic actions of first responders and ordinary American citizens.
Fundraiser launched
Coltabaugh said the Freedom Flag committee is going to launch a fundraiser soon to create museum displays in each of the district's school buildings.
There will be different tiers for students, parents, community members and businesses to donate to the fund, he said, noting fliers will be posted on the district's website and the Eagle Eye student-run newspaper's website when they are available.
There will be ways for people to donate by cash or check at the school, he said.
They're hoping to build a display case, about six feet long, to store the district's Freedom Flag when it's not being flown, as well as the stories of those who lost their lives on 9/11 and those who lived it.
Teachers, staff members and administrators will be encouraged to record video clips of themselves discussing where they were when the attacks occurred, Coltabaugh said.
"The committee wants to create a video and blend it together," he said, adding they plan to put a television in the display and either have the video running on a loop or set it up for teachers to play in their classes.
The committee hopes to have the displays set up by the spring, Coltabaugh said.
Teaching the next generation
Born in 2000, sixth grade social studies teacher Reilly Ronan has no living memory of Sept. 11, 2001. But she teaches 9/11 to her students, focusing on the heroic aspects of the tragedy and how it relates to today's world.
"We talk about all of the shootings that have happened," Ronan said. "There's still a lot of attacks on our country and even though (9/11) happened so long ago, there's still a lot of things that are present here in today's world that spark that conversation about what happened."
The students watch "Man in the Red Bandana" -- a documentary about Welles Crowther, a former Boston College lacrosse player who led people in the World Trade Center to safety. Crowther died after the south tower collapsed.
After watching the documentary, Ronan said the students write an assignment about what they would do with the last hour of their life if they knew they were going to die, which is followed by in-class discussions about 9/11.
The sixth graders have a surface level understanding of the events from that day, she said.
Remembrance is 'very important'
During the assembly, Coltabaugh told the district's students that, although they weren't alive when the 9/11 attacks occurred, it's important for them to remember the "lost possibilities and how our world changed" that day.
Coltabaugh asked students to remember 2-year-old Christine Lee Hanson, who was aboard United Airlines Flight 175 with her family when the plane crashed into the World Trade Center's south tower. Hanson's story will be the first told in the committee's displays, he said.
"Christine was an excited toddler who loved going to the playground, being in the garden and carrying her favorite Peter Rabbit toy," Coltabaugh said, adding the family was going to California to visit Disneyland.
"Christine was the youngest person to die in the World Trade Center, and she was excited about the possibilities of seeing her family and seeing Mickey and Minnie," he said. "A terrorist group, with their ideals and desires, changed her life."
Coltabaugh said the students have unlimited potential to achieve great things in their lives. They are the future heroes -- nurses, firefighters and police officers -- of the country's next generation, he said.
"Students, may we remember to be golden and strive to improve ourselves, our community and our world," Coltabaugh said.
Tyrone Area senior Hailey Lowery, a Freedom Flag committee member, said she's learned from the tragedy, and she hopes to keep the 9/11 stories alive by telling future generations what happened.
"Remembrance is very important when thinking about 9/11," Lowery said.
"I think people think, 'Oh it's September 11. This situation happened (24 years ago), but people don't understand the immense tragedy behind what really happened," she said. "So just having these murals in the school can really help place the tragedy that people obviously weren't alive for but can (better) understand."
Senior Jenna Watson agreed.
"Hearing stories from people who were there at that time just impacts you so much," Watson said. "It's very impactful. It's just a day to remember, truly."
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.