Lower Moreland High School to Unveil 9/11 Memorial Garden

It’s might be strange to think, but for the younger generation of kids out there, September 11 is just another day on the calendar.

Sure, they know the history behind it and know it’s a day of remembrance, but they can’t fully grasp the change our country went under following those tragic events. Like what Pearl Harbor Day is to some of the younger generations out there, that’s what 9/11 is to elementary and middle schools students.

But for kids in high school, they have a better understanding and more of a recollection of what that day was. Some were directly affected by the events that took place while others know it was a day that changed our country forever.

With that knowledge, Lower Moreland High School is set to unveil its 9/11 memorial for the 10-year anniversary of the event. Because of the recent weather and other events, LMHS was forced to push back the date to Wednesday, Sept. 14.

“The basic idea is student council two years ago decided they wanted to have an initiative to have a 10-year, September 11 memorial,” Student Council advisor Greg Pezza said. “We came up with a bunch of different ideas and brainstormed. Tracy Dean, who was substituting for our current ceramics teacher, came up with this idea.”

The idea was for each high school student to make a set of ceramic medallions to represent each victim of 9/11.

“We wanted to make it where each student participated,” Pezza said. “Each student in the school made a few of these tiles. And these tiles each represent someone in the World Trade Center. So there are roughly 3,000 tiles or so. We started it in April and into May. I think it’s a very nice and appropriate memorial. I think it’s a really neat thing. It’s all student centered and student run.”

All of the medallions will be hung on a tree outside of the ceremics room at the high school. There is also a mini pool and fountain that will be installed. Each medallion is red, white or blue and each represent something different. Students began creating the medallions last year.

• Red – World Trade Center Victims
• White – Pentagon Victims
• Blue – Pennsylvania Victims

There is also one white dove, which represents peace.

“A lot of these projects, you can just kind of spend money on it and get some sculptor to make something, which would be nice, but I think it’s cool that it’s all run by the students. Pretty much every student in the school had something to do with it.,” Pezza said.

The unveiling will take place throughout the day on Wednesday.