Alpha Student Wins Never Forget Mobile Exhibit Essay Contest

PHILLIPSBURG, NJ - Amber Olexa is the recipient of the 9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit Essay Contest

Amber Olexa, an 8th-grade student at Alpha Public School in Warren County, New Jersey, has won the inaugural 9/11 Never Forget Mobile Exhibit Essay Contest for her essay which captured her mother’s 9/11 experience and how the country came together in the wake of the attack.

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Olexa’s mother, Jill Olexa, who was working in Manhattan at the time of the 9/11 attacks, witnessed firsthand as the second plane hit the south tower. She then observed the same tower crumble to rubble.

“She will never forget the things she saw; the lives that were lost, the nauseating screams that escaped from the mouths of innocent people, and the American dreams that were crushed,” Olexa writes in her very touching essay. Click here to read the essay.

Olexa goes on to say, “On September 11, Jill Olexa witnessed America unite as a family, and care for each other like one too.”

Hundreds of students throughout New Jersey from 36 school districts in 17 counties submitted essays which were judged by the Tunnel to Towers 9/11 Institute and the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education.

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“The goal is to educate students about the events that transpired on 9/11 and highlight the everyday heroes who helped America recover in the last days and weeks after the 9/11 attacks,” writes the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

“The response to the inaugural 9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit Essay Contest by New Jersey’s students and teachers is impressive,” said Doug Cervi, Executive Director of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education. “The submissions reflect a deep understanding of the importance of preserving memory and learning from history. As an organization committed to these principles, we are proud to see our state’s young minds engaging with such dedication.”

The 9/11 Never Forget Mobile Exhibit is a one-of-a-kind traveling museum bringing the history of that tragic day to cities across the country. It’s a high-tech, tractor-trailer that transforms into an interactive exhibit, with 9/11 artifacts and guided tours carried out by retired members of the FDNY who experienced 9/11 firsthand.

The Tunnel to Towers 9/11 Institute is the Foundation’s September 11, 2001 education program. It is the go-to resource for educators of all types to get the non-fiction, first-person resources they need to teach children across the country about the extraordinary heroism and goodness of everyday people who inspired our nation and demonstrated the strength and resilience of America’s spirit.

Olexa’s interview with Fox 5 New York is slated to air on:

Saturday, May 25, at 6 AM

Monday, May 27, at 5:30 PM

Saturday, June 1, at 6 AM

Because of Olexa’s winning essay on remembering September 11th, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit will come to Alpha Public School on Tuesday, May 28th. Public viewing hours are from 3-5pm. TAPinto will continue this story.

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