Attacks inspire students to help others

They cope with their confusion and pain with projects to aid terrorism's victims in New York, Washington and here at home.

By LORRI HELFAND

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 25, 2001

Schools are not the same as they were two weeks ago. Since the attacks on Sept. 11, halls have been plastered in red, white and blue. Peace ceremonies are more common than pep rallies, and donation drives are more common than club fundraisers.

More than ever, local students are focusing on projects to help others. They're banding together to help victims in New York and Washington, D.C., as well as members of the local community, who have suffered losses of their own.

In this spirit, they're learning to cope with their own confusion and pain.

"With children, as with any human being, we don't know how to get our head around this event," said Sharon Sisco, principal of Cypress Woods Elementary. "We're able to manage things better when we have some control over it or are able to contribute and to do some good."

For their contribution, Sisco's fourth-graders are selling patriotic pins. The pins, handmade from ribbon and tiny figures shaped like the United States, have reaped more than $2,000 for the American Red Cross disaster relief fund.

Clearwater High students dealt with the tragedy by celebrating patriotic values. The World Religions class set up a table in front of the lunchroom, where students signed a replica of the Constitution and received informative literature about it.

Some schools are also coping with the tragedy by sharing their hopes and fears. Healing words were heard at Kennedy Middle, which created a chain of hope from strips of construction paper stapled together. On each link, they wrote messages of encouragement to the victims of the attack and their loved ones. After the chain of hope adorns their cafeteria for a few months, students plan to send it to a New York fire station.

Clearwater Central Catholic High chose to express healing thoughts through prayer. Students and staffers came together at a one-hour candlelight service, which was organized by the Retreat Leadership class.

Other schools rebelled against the violence, by focusing on peace.

High Point Elementary cultivated peaceful ideas through physical activity. In a relay race called "Pass Peace On," students shared a message of harmony as they handed off batons signifying peace, happiness, kindness and unity.

And at Carwise Middle, peace was celebrated at a ceremony that featured patriotic songs and uplifting speeches. The school also made a special dedication in memory of sixth-grader Gina Tarrou's father, Michael Tarrou, who was a flight attendant on United Flight 175.

At that ceremony, Carwise students presented an original poem that summed up the lesson of unity that students throughout the county have learned over the past two weeks.

An excerpt reads:

"We all lost a lot that day, whether it be family and friends on the planes or workers in the buildings. But now thousands are gone, and we realized that we would not get them back. We will keep them in our hearts and will remember them forever. Even though we are full of sorrow, we know we will pull through this together."

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