Sullivan Elementary students participate in The Walk to Remember

SULLIVAN, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — 23 years ago, the United States was hit with the largest terrorist attack in its history.

Wednesday morning, Sullivan Elementary School students who have been learning about this tragedy paid their respects to the fallen.

“We will be walking the track and will be walking 3.43 laps,” said 4th grade teacher Mia Moody. “That will represent the 343 firefighters who were killed during the 9/11 attacks in New York City.”

Moody said it is crucial for these students to get a clear picture of the heroic sacrifices made that day.

“I feel like it is important for our students to understand the sacrifices that have been made by our firefighters, first responders, and our police officers,” said Moody. “The things that happened that day are very important for me to teach to them because they weren’t alive when it happened.”

While walking the track, one student carried an American flag while the other carried a fire hose in a straight line. Assistant Principal Jessica Whitkanack said doing things like this at a young age leaves a lasting impact.

“Teaching our students to participate in something like this gives them a sense of pride and patriotism and is very important to instill at such a young age,” said Whitkanack. “We have students who really internalize that and take it on throughout their life, so starting early is a very important lesson.”

Whitkanack hopes these types of experiences inspire change in the next generation of Americans.

“For us to give these students a glimpse of reality at that time, the severity of it, and how it affected everyone across the United States and across the world really brings it home,” said Whitkanack. “We have such a small town community where everybody is related to somebody who was impacted or has a personal story. It is really great to see the change we can have in a small town.”

Moody’s students also had moments of silence at 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m., and 9:37 a.m. to mark the exact times when each major attack happened.

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