Oak Forest High School Remembers 9/11

OAK FOREST, IL — This year marks the 20th Anniversary of September 11th and the Social Sciences Department at Oak Forest High School wanted to create a unique experience for its students and staff to remember and reflect upon the day.

The idea of an exhibit began when Amanda O'Rourke, Media Specialist at Oak Forest High School, received an email from The American Library Association. The Association was offering exhibition posters from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York.

O'Rourke applied for the posters and it wasn't until they arrived at her doorstep that she realized she had received them. She went to District 228 Social Sciences Supervisor, Ed Lipowski wondering if the department would be interested in using the posters outside of a simple library display.

From there, the exhibit began to take shape.

Social Science Teachers and Oak Forest High School Administrators leant their voices to the posters. QR codes were developed so students can listen to their teachers and administrators read the information back to them.

Poster topics include Flight 93, Attacks on the Twin Towers, Attack on the Pentagon, Collapses at the Word Trade Center, Emergency Response, Recovery Efforts, Mourning & Solidarity, and 20 Years Later.

Mr. Lipowski also provided actual newspaper articles and magazines printed on September 11, 2001, that he had occupied and saved over the years. The articles allow exhibit viewers to glimpse at headlines from the actual day and days after the tragic events.

Mr. Dan Chambers, an Art Teacher at Oak Forest High School, also caught wind of the exhibit. He offered his copy of the graphic novel In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spiegelman for viewers to flip through.

The Oak Forest High School Library also contributed photo books and novels for students and staff to consider.

Additionally, the exhibit features moments for reflection. Students and staff members have the opportunity to reflect via QR code or via a whiteboard where emotions, feelings, or thoughts, can be shared publicly.

The exhibit will run through Monday, September 13th. Some students, such as Emma Schifferl, a junior at the school, have already viewed the exhibit in detail.

"I have been to the 9/11 museum with my family in New York," shared Schifferl. "It's interesting to view this exhibit with my peers. I have heard my parents share their experiences from pre and during 9/11 and now I get to hear from my peers' perspectives post 9/11."

Schifferl, who is 16 and born in 2005, reminds us that while many individuals can remember where they were on 9/11/2001, high school students weren't even born yet.

"We've all grown up post 9/11," said Schifferl. "We've been learning about 9/11, seeing videos, and reading about it since we were small children. In a way, we have become desensitized to it."

Although desensitized, this doesn't mean Schifferl doesn't see the importance of continually learning from and remembering the day.

"As an adult, you have to realize this is what happened and learn from it," she explained. "Now that I'm 16, I realize that importance of it and that this can't happen again - anywhere."