Sachem High School East unveiled its new 9/11 Memorial in a ceremony outside its main entrance on Sunday morning.
The memorial pays tribute to the tragic events of September 11, 2001 with a design that includes the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, which now sits directly in front of the school building on Granny Road in Farmingville, N.Y.
Prior to this weekend’s “Run to Remember” event at the school, hundreds gathered for a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially show off the memorial.
“The memorial was built to respect the memories of those lost,” said Sachem East Principal Lou Antonetti.
Its concept was designed by Sachem East technology teacher Keith Connolly and has been a multi-year project organized by Sachem East’s Freshman Class, which is advised by Jaimie Sison and Meredith Babst.
“It has been a real honor to be part of the project we’ve been working on for the past few years,” Sison said. “With this memorial we want to honor those we lost, especially in the Sachem community, but it’s also important to celebrate the lives of those who are still with us and continue to keep us safe.”
Babst said this is only the start of what should be an ongoing project to develop the area in front of Sachem East even more with the memorial as the focal point.
“We have bigger and better dreams for the memorial and our next venture is to make this area more like a park-like setting,” she said. “We would like the students and staff to come to the area and really relax and reflect for the day.”
During the ceremony, the first Timothy B. Higgins Memorial Scholarships were awarded to students from Sachem East and Sachem North. Sachem East alum and former student-athlete Cody Higgins, the daughter of fallen firefighter and Sachem resident Timothy Higgins, was on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony.
PHOTOS: Click here to see more images from the event
(Official release of Sachem Central School District)