Three hours before the sun rose over Butler High School, dozens of students were hard at work., crouched over cold grass, with dew soaking their shoes. Students planted American flags in the ground to spell out 9-11 and USA.
Keiren, a senior at Butler, drafted the plan and guided other students through the process. "This morning, we all came out together as a group...to place a flag for each person that died on 9/11/2001, to commemorate and remember the loss and the story of everyone that day," he said.
At Butler, this tribute has become an annual event, led by government teacher Jonathan Joseph. Now in it's fifth year, Joseph said the event culminates a week of education focused on 9/11 and the changes that followed across the United States.
Each year, students set aside their sleep schedules for one day to place 2,996 flags in front of their school, honoring each life lost on that tragic day, while building community and confidence in the process.
"It’s kind of surreal, actually," Poole said, "because my freshman year, I was the person who was stepping back and letting the older ones have more control. Now I’m in the role of having more control of the design and everything. And taking back, it’s kind of surreal to say, wow, this is something I created in a way."