Waverly Park School Rededicates 9/11 Memorial Garden

“What began as a dream has become a reality,” Lynbrook teacher Susan Lindner said, as Waverly Park School marked the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with a rededication ceremony of the school’s 9/11 Memorial Garden.

The garden was created in 2007, under Lindner’s guidance, to honor the victims of 9/11, as well as to create a quiet place to read and enjoy nature. Each year since, the school has added something new -- plants, benches, a hand-painted mural and a memorial brick walkway, engraved with the names of loved ones lost on 9/11.

In the garden is a bronze plaque bearing the names of five Lynbrook graduates who lost their lives that day:

• Patrick O’Keefe (Class of 1975)
• Aram Iskenderian (Class of 1978)
• Glen J. Wall (Class of 1980)
• Dennis Buckley (Class of 1981)
• Morton Frank (Class of 1988).

The flagpole bears a plaque honoring NYC Firefighter Michael Dermott Mullan, who was also a Lynbrook resident.

In 2010, the school received a piece of World Trade Center steel, which they unveiled at the ceremony. The artifact, which sits on a pedestal made of the same marble that graced the floors of the World Trade Center towers, will be on permanent display in the lobby of the building.

“We come here today to honor those who lost their lives through the voices of our children, through their music, stories and pictures,” Principal Lucille McAssey said in her opening remarks.

After the senior choir performed “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” student representatives from each grade took their place at the podium to recount their reflections through pictures, poems, acrostics and essays.

In one of the most moving moments of the ceremony, honored guest Dorota Zois spoke about the day her husband, Paul, never came home. Zois, who is the nurse at the Lynbrook Kindergarten Center, looked out at the sea of faces and saw many who had been her students over the years.

“It was a journey coming down here to see you all,” she said. “Always remember that life is a journey. Whatever happens along the way, good or bad, has meaning because of the people you meet along the way.”

After the chorus sang a spirited rendition of “Let the River Run,” McAssey closed the ceremony by reading a letter she wrote to her graduates 10 years ago.

“I’m sure you will agree that it was a year that no one will ever forget," she said. "We saw the worst in people, but we also saw people at their best. Remember to always treat one another with respect, kindness and tolerance, but, most of all, remember that each of you can make a difference in our world. A good deed or a kind word is all it takes to start.”

Each grade filed out of the auditorium to view the unveiling of the steel beam in the lobby. Then representatives of each class escorted their guests to view their 9/11 tribute garden, which was in full bloom with fall flowers.

On the wall of the garden are painted these words: “Let us remember September 11, 2001, so we never forget.”