by Jackie Gong
Students and staff gathered in the SOA Friday morning at 8:35 a.m. for a moment of silence led by interim principal Mark Aronson to reflect on the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
A moment of silence in remembrance of the day has not been held at North since 2011, 10 years after the events of September 11, according to Jonathan Bassett, who led the school-wide reflection from 2001 to 2011 over the loudspeaker.
The event was very brief, with a small statement by Aronson, who said he was grateful to have students and staff approach him and request a moment of silence.
The City of Newton lost eight residents to the events of Sept. 11. The mother and step-father of North Andover superintendent Jennifer Price, this school’s previous principal, also passed away when flight 93 crashed.
Aronson also encouraged everyone to “uphold the tradition” of a moment of silence even after his departure from the school by also continuing to ask the next principal of this school to observe the tragic day.
“I think it’s important to pay our respects, and it’s important to remember 9/11,” said senior Alison Forman-Katz, who attended the gathering.
Bassett, who did not attend the moment of silence this year, believes that ending the school-wide remembrance was a good decision.
“It is obviously a very important day, and has a great meaning for many Americans and those of us at North. But after a while, I don’t think we need to have a moment of silence to remember its importance,” he said, noting that events such as the attack on Pearl Harbor have become important part of history instead of continuing to live on in the present.
“We’re not trying to forget [Sept. 11], or make it unimportant, but I think that it may be time to move on, and into the day-to-day,” he said.
Though many students and staff did not attend the event, some homerooms held a small reflections.
“We had a moment of silence in Ms. Putzey’s homeroom,” said junior Zoe Jauniski. “She asked us to reflect on how we could bring peace to the world as the new generation.”
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Moment of silence held for 9/11 in SOA
September 14, 2015
Interim principal Mark Aronson speaks to students in the SOA before the moment of silence. Photo by Josh Shub-Seltzer.
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