COVINA, CA – Sierra Vista Middle School students commemorated the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 by honoring the National Day of Service and Remembrance with acts of kindness, patriotic posters, and activities and assignments focused on the importance of remembrance and hope.

Eighth-graders created and distributed bracelets early in the week, challenging their classmates to do something kind on or before 9/11. The challenge engaged all 820 Sierra Vista students and encouraged them to make a positive impact in the lives of others.

“Being able to remember this day with the school is really great and I’ve been able to really feel for the people who were impacted by 9/11, get to know more about it, and become more aware,” eighth-grader Aaliyah Carrillo said.

Eighth-grade history teacher Sheila Edwards spearheaded many of the commemorative efforts, including a new initiative for students to create and donate fleece tie blankets to a local senior home. Sierra Vista provided funds to purchase fleece for the blankets, while families donated additional supplies. Students will walk to the senior home in the coming weeks to distribute the blankets.

Each eighth-grade history class also assigned students the task of interviewing a friend, family member, community member, or teacher about their memories of 9/11. Students researched questions to ask, conducted the interviews, and shared their findings with the class.

“I did an interview with my aunt who saw it happen on live TV, and hearing her story really impacted me,” eighth-grader Amarisa Mendez said. “What I’ve taken away from this experience is that we’re still being impacted by this today, even 25 years later.”

Edwards was a teacher at Covina-Valley Unified in 2001 and said she remembers arriving at school that day knowing she couldn’t teach a lesson. Instead, she had students paint messages and hang them on the school’s gates. She also led her students in creating a time capsule with items from the day, including tissues that were used by tearful students, candles from neighborhood vigils, letters, a nametag from a firefighter who was in New York, and more. The time capsule was opened on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, when those students graduated from high school.

Edwards kept the contents of the time capsule in her classroom and, this year, placed an item on each of her students’ desks to offer a tangible connection to a defining moment in American history.

“We want students to understand that studying history is about more than remembering what happened,” Edwards said. “It is about understanding how the past continues to shape our world and recognizing that each of us can make a positive difference in our community.”

Throughout the week, students also created posters and distributed green buttons to classmates who completed their acts of kindness, with eighth-grade history classes, Associated Student Body leaders, and members of Where Everyone Belongs (W.E.B.) working together to support the effort.

“Our Sierra Vista Middle School students have made an incredible impact on their school community through acts of service and kindness,” Superintendent Dr. Jonathan Blackmore said. “Thank you to everyone who made these remembrance activities possible and honored this National Day of Service and Remembrance.”

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

CVUSD_SV_REMEMBRANCE1: Sierra Vista Middle School students commemorated the 25th anniversary of 9/11 by honoring the National Day of Service and Remembrance with acts of kindness, including creating fleece tie blankets to donate to a local senior home.

CVUSD_SV_REMEMBRANCE2: Sierra Vista Middle School eighth-graders created and distributed bracelets challenging their classmates to do something kind on or before 9/11.

CVUSD_SV_REMEMBRANCE3: Sierra Vista Middle School eighth-grade history teacher Sheila Edwards spearheaded many of the commemorative efforts, including showing her students items from a time capsule her class put together in 2001.