Hall commemorates tragedies of September 11 in voluntary gathering
By Mike Grynbaum

    Hall quietly marked the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 tragedies Wednesday, asking students to observe a moment of silence and holding a voluntary gathering after school.

    “[Superintendent of Schools] Dr. David Sklarz asked to keep it simple and dignified,” Assistant Principal Shelley Solomon said early last week. The focus was meant to be on “the positive changes that have taken place in all of us,” Solomon said.

    School administrators debated whether to hold an assembly during the school day, but opted to keep a normal schedule. Solomon said she believed the day should “focus on the positive,” and that a mandatory ceremony was not necessary.

    Solomon cited the inevitable mass media coverage of the event as a reason to not hold an assembly. “We’ve had a disruptive year as a result of 9/11 [already],” she said, and noted that the amount of national media coverage of the event was also a concern.

    Students and faculty gathered at the flagpole in front of Hall’s main entrance after school Wednesday for the voluntary gathering, organized by senior Francis K.

    The program included the Pledge of Allegiance, patriotic songs, a speech by Kim and students’ artwork and writing about the tragedies.

    The moment of silence was held at 8:48 a.m., the time Flight 11, the first plane to reach the World Trade Center, crashed into Tower One.

    However, faculty members wanted the anniversary to be more about the ways the United States has changed since the attacks, rather than centering on the events themselves.

    “[We want] people reflecting on what positive things have happened as a result of Sept. 11,” said Guidance Counselor Sheila Nussbaum. “The ways the country and individuals have changed.”

    Hall lost one alumnus in the Sept. 11 attacks, Joseph Lenihan, a member of the Class of 1978. A memorial was erected for Lenihan last year, near the H-wing amphitheater.