Wednesday, March 20, 2002
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Wednesday, March 20, 2002 |
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'Two Feet for America' bound for 9/11 sites After months of making cloth memorials for the victims who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, students at J.C. Booth Middle School are ready to send their symbols of love and support to the locations of those incidents. After the airplanes crashed into the Pentagon and Twin Towers of the Word Trade Center, sixth-grade teacher Claire McLean said she prayed for a way she could help students at the middle school deal with the attacks and loss of life. Suddenly an idea popped into her head called Two Feet for America. The project entailed tying two-foot pieces of red, white and blue material together to form a chain. The title of the project has a double meaning. It represents the two feet that each student will stand on to fight against terrorism and each two-foot piece of material represents one life that was lost during the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Students arrived in McLean's classroom before the beginning of school each morning for several months after the attacks to work on the cloth chains. Students designed a Web site and posted flyers throughout Peachtree City telling the community about the project and asking for cloth donations. About 40 students worked on the project. With the help of community supporters and parents, the students collected enough donated cloth to finish their memorials. Now the memorials are on their way to the New York City Commissioners office and the Pentagon for display. Students say they put a lot of pride and care into creating a lasting memorial to the victims. They learned to tie square knots so that the chains would stay together. The chain being delivered to New York City is wound on a huge bolt and the one for the Pentagon is wrapped around a wooden pentagon. "My dad made it out of two pieces of wood. He even dropped it on our basement floor to make sure that it stayed together," said Kristen Cleveland. Students who worked on the project gathered March 14 to celebrate the send-off of the memorials.
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