A Solemn Reminder

School was in full swing. Positive thoughts abounded. Possibilities seemed limitless. Excitement filled the air. Joy reigned.

Then, in an instant, the tone of the day changed. Everything changed. At Collegiate. Everywhere. Forever.

 

Today – Sept. 11, 2018 – marks the 17th anniversary of the terrorists attacks on the United States of America.

 

It was a day that those holding forth on North Mooreland Road – entrusted with the care of 1,600 children – will never forget. It was a trying time, a disorienting time, a tragic time, but it was a time that the Collegiate Family pulled together to do what it always does in times of crisis: take care of one another.

 

That morning, several of us – mostly coaches – were standing in Charlie Blair’s office engaging in some light hearted chatter about our upcoming athletic seasons.

 

Trygve Garter, then the assistant to the head of the Middle School, interrupted to tell us that an airplane had just flown into the World Trade Center and Keith Evans, the head of school, wanted us to assemble in the back room of the Reed-Gumenick Library where there were several televisions.

 

We rushed there, of course. When we arrived, we could hardly believe the scenes unfolding on the screens. My first thought was that this was a clip from Independence Day, but this was no movie. It was life, as real as it gets. As we tried to absorb the news, the second plane crashed into the South Tower, and we incredulously watched stunning and horrific images of smoke billowing from the twin high-rises in the heart of New York City.

 

As a school community, we had no preparation to handle a tragedy of this magnitude. We knew, though, that we had to remain calm and assure our students that they were safe and secure when the world, in an instant, had become a very scary place.

 

Folks with friends and relatives in New York and the Washington, D.C., area or in the air made phone calls to check on them and waited anxiously for answers. Seventy-six of our graduates lived and worked in New York. One-by-one, we received reports that all had survived, though many endured harrowing experiences.

        

Words delivered in hastily called assemblies provided information and comfort. The 4th Grade – the class of 2010 – was en route to Mt. Vernon that day but returned quickly when their teachers heard the news.

 

Drama contagion is always a concern in a school setting when disquieting events occur, but there was never a hint. The day was orderly, respectful, controlled, and eerily quiet, the latter a strange sensation in a vibrant school. Maintaining a sense of normalcy was paramount, so classes went on as scheduled, but, if memory serves correctly, the focus was more on talking through thoughts and emotions than prepared lesson plans. After-school activities were canceled. When the academic day concluded, students went home to their families to digest the news.

 

I, like most of us, thought of my own family. Were they all right? Were they safe? During the day, I checked in with my parents, my wife, and our four children. All were fine, of course. Shaken but fine. None were traveling. All were where they were supposed to be. For that, I was grateful. Just hearing their voices provided comfort and reassurance.

 

Cold, blustery weather arrived three days later as we assembled for Convocation, which coincided with the National Day of Remembrance and Prayer.

 

Convocation is usually a joyous event which generates much energy, happiness, and good humor. The tenor that day, however, was somber, subdued, and reverent. Keith Evans spoke eloquently and challenged us to resist feelings of bitterness and hatred, to honor the true heroes whose stories were just becoming public, and to draw strength from the community which provides abiding love and support in times of pain, grief, and loss. They were poignant words as we were just barely awakening to a world that would never, ever be the same and attempting to find reason in the irrational and make sense of the inexplicable.

 

Seventeen years. Images remain. Reminders endure.

 

The world is vastly different, but Collegiate is fundamentally the same. At our most challenging moment, we supported each other, buoyed each other, and cared for each other. We always do. That spirit, friends, truly reflects the soul of Collegiate School.

 -- Weldon Bradshaw