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Students share hope, compassion
By LORRI HELFAND
© St. Petersburg Times, PALM HARBOR -- Under the blazing morning sun, 1,500 students clustered around the courtyard Thursday at Carwise Middle School to hear speeches of encouragement, hope and peace. The crowd included the family of 11-year-old Gina Tarrou, a Carwise sixth-grader who lost her father, Michael Tarrou, in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Purple Ribbon Day of Peace ceremony kicked off with a delicate version of the Star Spangled Banner sung by the Carwise chorus. Students and staffers wore purple ribbons as a symbol of grief and honor, and waved handmade flags. The ceremony was held to empower students and honor Mr. Tarrou, 38, who was a flight attendant on United Flight 175, as well as the other victims of last week's tragedy. Students don't have power over military decisions, but they do have power over how they treat their fellow man, Principal John Leanes said. "The answer is compassion, respect and caring for all members of the Carwise community: Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims. We all are of one race, the human race," he said. The spirit of the ceremony touched Mr. Tarrou's sister Demetra Lumia, 37. "It was beautiful. My brother would have loved it. He was there shining down," she said after the ceremony. "Peace was my brother's dream, and I believe he died for it." Steven Feller, 37, who had been friends with Mr. Tarrou since junior high, said he also felt his presence. "Mac would have loved today," he said referring to his buddy by his nickname. "He would have smiled and cried at the same time. "I could see him in my mind with a smile and compassion saying that it was beautiful." During the ceremony, Gina, her family, and family friends grabbed handfuls of dirt and planted an oak tree, which was dedicated to her father and all the victims of the tragedy. "I know that he's okay and that he's in a better place," Gina said of her father. In spite of her grief, she recalls his lightness and his humor. "He was so funny. He was just great. He had these dances he would do," she said, giggling with the memories. "He was funny. He was my dad." A scholarship fund has been established in her father's name to provide needy students with school supplies. Leanes said other students lost relatives and family friends. The principal decided to hold an assembly after students approached him, expressing fear and grief. Elit Bensimon, 12, wrote a speech about the attack before Carwise planned the ceremony. An Israeli native, Bensimon spoke about how her family lived in terror there and came to America expecting peace. "When my family moved to America, they thought it would always be the country the whole world looked up to," she said. "They never thought that it would be the country the whole world is praying and mourning for." The chorus ended the ceremony with Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA as they waved flags and red ribbons. Students like Stephanie Wonning, 13, who recited a poem during the ceremony, said the event helped her and her peers do something about the tragedy in their own way. "We're doing it to show that we care too. It's not just the adults who care," she said.
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