Remembering September 11, 2001

Elmont Library to unveil World Trade Center beam

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This Sept. 11 will take a special place in the hearts of Elmont residents, as the Elmont Memorial Library unveils a beam that was recovered from the wreckage of the north tower of the World Trade Center.

Procured by the library board of trustees, the beam was installed earlier this summer with the help of the Fire Department, which also received a piece of the tower. The library, which is named in honor of the servicemen and woman who have died defending the U.S., will hold a ceremony on Sunday, and the beam will be on display with a plaque commemorating the day.

“To have a reminder is something that’s good for the kids,” said Patrick Nicolosi, a library trustee. “To see the history — it’s 15 years ago now, and it’s like Pearl Harbor. You’ll never forget. When you go near that steel and see it and touch it, it sends chills.”

The plaque that accompanies the beam dedicates it to those who died in the attacks and the veterans who gave their lives fighting for the U.S. in the years after 9/11. Honoring the military is a source of pride for Elmont resident Ralph Esposito. The director of the Nassau County Veterans Service Agency, Esposito, a Vietnam War veteran, said he was thankful that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which awards the beams through a lottery, chose the Elmont library.

“I’m thrilled that we got that piece,” said Esposito, who is also the chairman of the Elmont F.D.’s board of fire commissioners. “It’s a remembrance to the 343 firefighters that were lost. I think it’s an honor to have that piece of steel there, so we never forget.”

With the memorial at the library, children will have the chance to learn about the events of 9/11 and the impact it had on the community, Esposito said. “It will give the kids a little food for thought, and make them think about what happened and what went on in this country,” he said.

Aiding the library, and many other schools and institutions in the tristate area, is the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The organization teams with educators around the country to craft 9/11-focused lesson plans. Beginning with kindergartners, the plans help young students understand the events of that day through interactive learning. Teachers are encouraged to bring their classes to the memorial to see how the world was affected.

“It’s hard to understand the world they live in without understanding what happened that day,” said Noah Rauch, the memorial’s senior director of educational programs. “So it’s just a lens to view a lot of different themes. The attacks themselves and the response to the attacks highlight a lot of fundamental themes about humanity that are important for everyone to acknowledge.”

The lessons, which are in part of the Common Core curriculum, span a range of disciplines, from history to STEM education, in which students learn about the construction of the World Trade Center and some of the engineering challenges designers faced when they began building the towers in 1966.

The memorial also explores how the U.S. government responded in the days, months and years after the attacks. “Balancing national security with civil liberties is something that we talk about,” Rauch said. “We find that it’s geared toward high schoolers, but the teachers are craving for that, because in a lot of ways that’s sort of how that age enters into the story. Understanding the relevance to their daily life is something that we try to probe.”

The memorial will host a webinar on Sept. 12 and 13, during which students will be able to speak with a survivor of the attacks. Ada Dolch, the former principal of Leadership and Public Service High School in Lower Manhattan, will answer students’ questions. She was responsible for safely evacuating her students on 9/11 — while her sister, Wendy Alice Rosario Wakeford, was at work on the 105th floor of the North Tower. Wakeford was killed when the tower collapsed. In 2005, Dolch helped establish a school in Afghanistan in her sister’s memory.

The beam unveiling dedication ceremony will take place at 11 a.m., at the library’s entrance.

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