Athlos holds ceremony in remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001
Athlos Leadership Academy in Brownsville hosted a 9/11 remembrance ceremony Friday that featured special performances by its dance team, cheerleaders and artwork to honor those lost on that day.
The event took place inside the gymnasium, in which all grade levels, second-11th, were present, as well as parents and special guests. Also on display was a 25-foot drawing in white of the TwinTowers on black butcher paper.
Filling the towers were the 2,996 names of those known to have died in the terror attack, as reported by the official 9/11 MemorialMuseum, said Frida Arellano, the art teacher at Athlos, whose idea it was to put this together.
“I didn’t think it’d be that hard at first,” Arellano said. “But it turned out to be very emotionally challenging writing all those names out.”
The filling out of names began last Friday, and Arellano’s art students participated in the project throughout the week as well as the Advanced Placement history class for 11th graders.
The celebration began with an introductory statement by Carlos Moreno Jr., assistant principal for the high school portion of Athlos, where he described his experience of the morning when “all of our lives changed forever.”
“On that day, I remember that I was on my way to work when I heard a plane crashed into the WorldTradeCenter in New York City,” Moreno said. “At first I thought it was a tragic accident and continued about my day. But in a matter of minutes, as another plane hit the WorldTradeCenter, it became clear to everyone that this was no accident.”
After his remarks and a performance of “I Believe,” with echoes of statements made by politicians on 9/11 by the cheerleaders, Moreno introduced Estela Chavez-Vasquez, the Democratic Party nominee for Cameron County Court-at-Law Judge No. 5.
Chavez-Vasquez asked members of the student body to raise their hands if they liked stories, and went on to tell two stories about a “happy” and “sad” time she had at the age of 17. Following brief comments about her marriage, the happy event, and the passing of her father, the tragic event, Chavez-Vasquez mentioned how those events helped her grow.
“I share these two events, because the lessons that I’ve learned from both have guided me and helped me to achieve more than I ever thought was possible,” Chavez-Vasquez said. “You see, being married at the age of 17 taught me that in order to succeed, you must love what you do because life is too short to waste it on things you don’t love, and second, to never ever give up on those you love.”
Chavez-Vasquez went on to honor the first responders who lost their lives and encouraged the students to likewise honor them and learn from their examples of courage.
First responders invited to the ceremony were officers Imelda Valdez and Carlos Jimenez, Lt. Enoc Cruz, firefighter Fabian Rivera and driver Buster Jones, some of whom gave brief statements of gratitude.
