ABC7 6 p.m. broadcast from September 11 - click here: http://vimeo.com/49634144
NEWS Walnut Valley Unified School District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 880 S. Lemon Avenue
September 10, 2012 Walnut, CA 91789
Contact:
Kelli Gile, Office of Community Resources
(909) 595-1261 ext. 31204
Walnut High Remembers 9/11
Red, white, and blue fills front of campus
WALNUT, CA—Walnut High School students placed nearly 3,000 American flags in front of the campus marking the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy.
Tomorrow when students come to school they will see the patriotic display and remember that each flag represents a life lost.
The school-wide activity was organized by the Young Republicans Club. Members were joined by volunteers from the Link Crew and Young Democrats Club.
The group of about a 40 volunteers began the remembrance project after school at 3 p.m. on September 10.
Students placed a total of 2,997 American flags to honor the victims of the nation’s tragedy.
The 100-foot patriotic display spelled out 911, USA, and star with a pentagon inside to represent the three locations of the attacks.
The shapes were outlined and then the volunteers filled them in with 5” flags.
It took about two hours to complete the display for Patriot Day.
Many of our students were too young to remember the attack on September 11, 2001. But they can relate because it’s about the same number of students that attend our school, History Teacher and Young Republicans Club advisor Brett Landis said.
Students in the Young Republican’s club came up with the idea last year for the 10th anniversary to show their patriotism and compassion.
The club decided to continue the tribute because of the favorable response from students from last year’s display, said senior Eric Wang, the club’s secretary and event co-founder.
“Everyone who saw it last year said it was very good for the community and they were happy about it,” he said.
“It’s good to remember and show people we care,” said President Andrew Walayat. The senior is the brother of the project’s co-founder and past president - 2012 graduate Aaron Walayat.
“Even though this isn’t a partisan event, we wanted to represent the Young Democrats here and show that we’re taking an active role on campus, said first-time participant senior Amanda Ong.
“This is really about all representatives of our nation coming together and showing that the students care is really powerful,” said senior Avika Dua.
“It’s really meaningful because to remember the lives that were lost that day and it’s really important that we don’t forget,” said sophomore Timothy Yeung.
And the tens of thousands of Americans that have been affected by the sacrifice of their loved ones to defend freedom on account of what happened that day,” Landis added.
The students will be taken down at the end of the day tomorrow.
Shown:
Walnut High School students placed nearly 3,000 flags in honor of Patriot Day held September 11 to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the USA in 2001.