Inside the school, administration and staff were preparing to deal with the crisis and the effects on students.
The administration said that they made sure that support staff was available to accommodate any students who wanted to talk. Resources included New Perspectives and Full Circle, both of which were available all day.
Neu reminded the staff to listen to students and let them talk. She emphasized the importance of having televisions and radios on throughout the day.
“It was important to get the most accurate information we could so as not to create hysteria,” Neu said.
The flag stood at half-mast as the student body went to first period, unsure of how to react and how the school would handle the implications of the unprecedented event.
Teachers did not know what to expect from their classes, and most suspended lesson plans for the day.
English teacher Patchen Homitz said he was impressed with the mature reactions by his freshmen students. Many talked about rage and how it was natural to be angry. Homitz also commented that many of his Essay/Exposition students were surprised by the idea of a draft.
Physics teacher David Nash speculated that low scores on his weekly homework quiz might have been the result of students’ reaction to the tragedy.
“Skills that students usually have seemed to disappear that day,” he said. Although the country didn’t know what to expect in hours after the attack, Nash commented that he felt safe at Redwood.
A spirit rally originally scheduled for Thurs., Sept. 13, was cancelled soon after the attacks occurred.
“I made the decision to cancel the sports rally. A rally of that tone would have been disrespectful,” Neu said.
However, an alternate assembly agenda was planned.
“I felt it was important to pull together as a student body and talk about how important it is that we treat each other with respect, support each other, and become one community,” Neu said.
Inspirational speaker Michael Lee agreed to address the student body. Lee, who was blinded as a young man, reflected on his experiences in an effort to remind students of the positive impact they can have on each other’s lives.
“We have to put our spirits forward. We have to come together. We need to stomp out this hatred — person to person, religion to religion, nation to nation,” he said.
Lee also used humor to capture the attention of his audience.
The assembly concluded in song as junior Sophie Flax and sophomores Evacheska Browne-Miller and Spencer Phipps led the school in a rendition of the national anthem.
That weekend three freshmen girls transformed the spirit ball, usually reserved for declarations of class pride, into a memorial for those killed in the attacks. The ball was covered in recent newspaper clippings, poems, and symbols of peace and patriotism.
“It was incredible to come in [Monday morning] and see initiative to build a local memorial to represent those who are suffering a tremendous loss from this brutal attack,” Neu said.
Freshmen Julia Grebenstein, Samantha Schaberg, and Cerina Moeck noticed the spirit ball covered in its usual graffiti while walking around the track during PE class. “We just wanted to get the message out that [the terrorist] attacks are not something that we can ignore. We felt guilty about not being able to do anything,” Grebenstein said.
One of the concerns Neu discussed with staff was sensitivity towards the emotional states of students of Middle Eastern descent.
“We want to make sure that students who have their origins in the Middle East are not threatened or intimidated here,” Neu said.
Senior Shireen Taleghani, a Persian-American, expressed a concern for the Islamic community.
“I am not personally affected, but I feel as a whole the Muslim community is affected in a negative way,” Taleghani said. “People must remember that there are many branches of Islam and they all should not be associated with terrorism.”
Senior Arshia Behnam, also a Persian-American, commented that people need to be more careful in their actions towards one another.
“Basically people have been doing a good job of coming together, but it is definitely in the back of our minds that people might be looking at us differently,” he said.
