GHS remembers 9-11

GAINESVILLE - Students at Gainesville High School Friday took some time to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9-11, although most of them were too young to remember the details of the attack.

Logan Brown, Student Council president at GHS, said she was in her second grade classroom the morning of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

"But I do remember my second grade teacher was very worried because her husband was a pilot," said Brown. "She immediately turned the TV on, and we watched it for a little bit. I remember being very scared."

The event at Gainesville High featured a poetry project on 9-11 conducted by one class in addition to a video presentation of footage of the attacks on New York's Twin Towers and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

Gainesville Fire Chief Jon Canada was one of the featured speakers. He said his goal was to "paint a picture" of 9-11 from the perspective of firefighters and police officers.

"So maybe they [students] just know 9-11 as a catch phrase and don't truly understand how 9-11 changed our country and changed everyone's lives forever," said Canada.

Harris Blackwood, the Director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, also spoke to the students and faculty.

He remembered that he had been laid off from his job the Friday before 9-11, and he had resolved to do something of significance while he was looking for work.

Little did he realize what would happen the following week, he said. He and other volunteers from Gainesville's First Baptist Church were mobilized and traveled to New York to help.

"Maybe this anniversary will help us come together again and renew our love for our country and our resolve to fight terrorism," he said.