2011_09_15 - Saint Thomas Aquinas High School

10 9/11 RememberanceSeptember 15, 2011Teacher, student remember terrorist attacks10 years after the Sept. 11,2011attacks, those impacted reflect onthe day that changed their lives.JACOB DOTTERWEICH,BEN GARTLANDSports Editor, ReporterTen years ago, most of us weresitting in our grade school classrooms,watching a day progress normally as ever.But, as some of us found out and some ofus didn’t, there were events progressinghundreds of miles away that would changeAmerica forever. These events were theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks on the WorldTrade Center and the Pentagon in NewYork City and Virginia.Now, we are all old enough tounderstand what happened and why ithappened, and no teacher at Aquinasunderstands better than Guided Studiesteacher Charlie Lamont.Lamont was working as a specialeducation math teacher when he heardabout the attacks.“Another teacher came in andasked if I had my TV on,” Lamont said. “Iturned it on and saw both towers on fire. Ididn’t know what had happened.”Lamont is a former New Yorker,and the tragedy hit him on a personallevel. He lost four friends, who were allfirefighters, in the collapse of the towers.“They were the heroes.” he said.Lamont said that New York washit the hardest, both physically and emotionally,from the attacks.The ShieldThe student voice atSaint Thomas AquinasMission StatementThe Shield is anewspaper sponsored bySaint Thomas AquinasHigh School and producedby its students to provideinformation, entertainmentand open forum as well as alearning experience for thestaff members. The goal ofThe Shield’s staff is to meetprofessional journalismstandards. Staff membersare responsible for thecontent of the newspaperand strive to report newsaccurately, objectively andcompletely. The Shield isan open forum for studentexpression and aims tocommunicate the concernsof the student body as wellas the faculty, staff andAquinas community.“If you had a connection to NewYork City, then it has a more personalfeel to it.” He said, “It’s a deeply personaltragedy.”Yet, he said that even in themidst of tragedy and hurt, America, andmore specifically New York, becamestronger.“New York City showed theworld that a large diverse city could pullitself together and emerge from tragedy,”he said.Phyllis Mills, another New Yorker,has an equally personal connection to9/11. She and her husband’s wedding anniversaryis on September 11, and they haddinner reservations for Windows on theWorld, the restaurant on top of the WorldTrade Center the day of the attacks.“It was a huge deal to eat at thisrestaurant, and it was very upscale. Thethought that you could have been there,was stunning,” Mills said.Some people are worried thatthe new 1 World Trade Center that iscurrently under construction will proveto be another target for terrorists. Millsdisagrees, and said that terrorists can andwould find another way to attack if theywere to again that is not the World TradeCenter.“We have realized we are vulnerable,and we have added extreme securitymeasures in airports. We have not doneenough to secure other means of transportationlike subways and trains. We knowthey’ll come, and we’re not being proactiveenough,” Mills said.Even though the men responsiblefor the attacks were Muslim, Mills doesn’tAdviserMatt HallauerEditor-in-ChiefCara OldenhuisManaging/ Campus NewsEditorAlexis LeikerCenterspread EditorCarole TrickeyFeatures EditorMegan LucasLast Look EditorEmily Seibhold a grudge toward them.“We can hold a grudge, but wecan never forget what happened either.No one will. I was never personally madat Muslim people, because it was not theMuslim religions fault” Mills said.The tragedy hit everyone, butfor some children, including many of ushere at Aquinas, we had no idea what wasgoing on. So imagine you're a young childwho still doesn't know what's happening,but you were in New York City, and youhave a parent that worked in Manhattan.That's how junior Lauren Holley felt."I thought my mother was goingto die," Holley said. "At the time, mymother worked near the Empire Statebuilding, which is near the World TradeCenter."Holley was a first grader, living inNew York City at the time of the attacks.While she says she was too young to fullyunderstand at the time, there are somemoments she remembers vividly."My most vivid memory fromSeptember 11 was crying hysterically atschool during the attacks and when I sawmy mother after the attacks," she said. "Iwas scared to death."Now, ten years later, many of uscan barely remember the events on thatday. Sure we see the video clips and thepictures and are impacted by it, but to beimpacted by remembering the actual daysis a different thing entirely."Ten years later, the September11th attacks still impact me," Holley said."Whenever I think about the attacks, I goback to the feeling that I will never seemy mom again, I become sad, and then IEntertainment EditorMadison PetracekSports EditorJacob DotterweichReportersPhoebe Beachner, MikeEstes, Ben Gartland, ElizabethRommeContributorsHaley Sieben, BaileWinslow, Taylor RuischAdvertisingThe Shield sellsadvertisements to helpwith publication costs. Allads will be subject to thesame scrutiny as stories.The Shield will not printobscenities or any adspromoting products illegalto those under the age of18. For advertising, pleasecall (913) 319-2460 orvisit our site online at www.STAsaints.net/Shield.SubscriptionsSubscriptions to TheShield are $2 per issue.To subscribe, drop off anenvelope containing yourpayment labeled with thesubscriber’s name and addressin Room 212 or aworry about the safety of my country."A child's perspective, even onefrom New York City, is still a bit blurry.However, an adult's perspective, especiallyone who is a former New Yorker, is veryclear.Aquinas head basketball coachSean Reilly was an associate principal atMill Valley High School on September11th. His experience was one of manyemotions, all changing in a matter of minutes."At first I thought it was anaccident," he said. "I had been up in thetowers with my cousin before and hadseen small aircraft flying below the tower.I just thought that one of them had justunfortunately crashed."However when the second planehit the South tower, Reilly, and the rest ofAmerica, knew that it was no accident.Even though Reilly vividly rememberedthe day and the impact it had,he still says that the high school studentsat Mill Valley were impacted more."It was their first shock," he said."The teachers had lived through sometragic events, but for the students, it was anew experience for them."For the young students, it wastheir first shock and may have impactedthem more. However, it still impactedpeople of all ages, even the people whosememories stretched back to the day PearlHarbor was attacked. gschool office. 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