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Centennial
children show spirit
by Karla
Florence Smith
October 2001
On Friday, September 14, students and faculty
of Sandburg Elementary School in Centennial participated in
a National Day of Remembrance ceremony to reflect upon the September
11 terrorist attacks and to pay tribute to the thousands of
people who lost their lives as a result.
On the west lawn of Sandburg, at 9:30 a.m., the
sun streamed over the building from the east and shimmered on
the American flag, flying at half-staff. The children and faculty,
adorned in red, white and blue, carried American flags, shared
silence, pledged their allegiance to the flag, and sang �Our
Country �Tis of Thee.�
Some fifth grade students shared thoughts with
their schoolmates.
�I make a serious promise of loyalty to my country,�
said Parker Calbert. �To the elected people who lead us through
our countries� problems for which a flag shall represent our
nation�that cannot be broken. And for freedom to our neighbors
and ourselves to be treated with respect and fairness.�
Sarah Palmer made a �serious promise� to be loyal
to her country and to the people who run it.
�Our flag that represents our nation is a symbol
for the people who share the United States,� she said. �Our
nation is one that can�t be broken. Everyone is treated with
respect, freedom, and fairness.�
Kara Martens said peace is one thing we see �almost
every day.�
�Tuesday we saw something much different than
peace,� she said. �We saw evil hit us like no other (day). Sure,
they can live in our country and interact with our people, but
those who planned this attack should be severely punished. They
hurt and killed so many innocent people; but more than that,
they hurt and killed policemen and firemen. And, they hurt many
people around the world (who) lost someone to this attack.�
Sophie McNeely said, on Tuesday morning, �...terrorists
hit us in a way that hurt us (and) put a scare on America, killing
a lot of people. Why I think they did that was because they
wanted to hurt us and yes, they did. I believe in fighting for
our freedom. I believe that people from all different places
of the world can come here and live with us in peace. But, if
(the terrorists) are going to try to put us down and break our
spirits, then they are going to have to try a lot harder than
that.�
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