Thanks to Madeline Diamond, Annie Fox, Jessica Karl and Lizzie Kilbride for providing this to Patch readers- these are their words.
Voices of September 11 is the largest repository of oral histories for 9/11 victims and their families in the world, and has offered NCHS students to do several types of work during the summer including online/web based work and community interviews.
For the past several years the NCHS Social Studies Department has worked in tandem with Voices to provide junior students in AP US History internship opportunities.This summer NCHS students Madeline Diamond, Annie Fox, Jessica Karl and Lizzie Kilbride worked as student interns for the nonprofit organization. They had the opportunity to work on the Community Response Project.
They will be presenting their work on Friday, September 14th, at the NCHS 9/11 Symposium at 10:15 am. The public is welcome.
Their mission statement this summer was to dig deep into surrounding communities, exploring and documenting the ways that different members of our society have responded to 9/11. The project is a chance for members of Fairfield County to share theirpersonal experiences from 9/11 in filmed interviews. The research from theinterviews will be included in the VOICES living memorial project, an onlinedigital archive which commemorates the almost 3,000 lives lost on September11th, and documents personal stories of survivors, families, and rescueworkers. These students wanted to get a wide range of interviewees to learn from different perspectives, and how they dealt with 9/11. Community religious leaders, as well as transportation and emergency personnel wereinterviewed.
Cantor Shirah Sklar, of Temple Shalom, was a student in NYC during attacks. Cantor Shirah Sklar was 23 years old and in her second year of cantorial school in New York City when the World Trade Center was attacked. Having just returned from a year in Israel, where attacks were a daily fear, it shocked her to see terrorism spread to her homeland.
Father Robert Post of Saint Thomas More, Chaplain of Stamford Fire Department. Father Bob Post grew up in New York City, where he had a “hero worship” for the firemen in his community as well as the priests who taught at his Catholic High School. Father Post was asked to bless the different fire departments going to Ground Zero, and he unfortunately lost many close friends.
John Lydon, Metro North Conductor. John Lydon has been a conductor on Metro North Railroads for the last 30 years. Having worked trains around Connecticut and New York, Mr. Lydon became familiar with many Manhattan commuters, some of whom were victims of the attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.
Additional interviewees were Monsignor Frank McGrath of Saint John’s, Chaplain of Noroton & Westport Fire Department; Paul Aaronson, EMS Commissioner, NCVAC; Dan Warzoha, Emergency Response Consultant, Former Fire Chief of Greenwich; Bob Arnold, President of Family Centers, located in Greenwich ; Margaret Sirot, Volunteer facilitator at The Den for Grieving Kids; Mike O’Leary, 9/11 survivor and Johanna Martinez, a Lower Manhattan resident.
These NCHS students have shown a way to help us process the enormous historical event that is 9/11-by community involvement and lending a helping hand.
