PANAMA CITY BEACH — The Interact Club at J.R. Arnold High School is inviting locals to attend the school’s annual 9/11 Commencement Ceremony and to view a real piece of 9/11 history on Thursday.
The school’s auditorium is the unlikely home to a rare fragment of the Pentagon Façade, which is an actual piece of the Pentagon building destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The school is one of a dozen places to received a portion of the Pentagon Façade.
“It’s a resting place,” said Sharon Gilson, English teacher and one of the coordinators for this year’s event. “We want the history to remain there for our students and people in the community to have a place to go to remember those lost on 9/11.”
With a shortage of public events to commemorate 9/11 this year, a handful of Bay District schools stepped up to host ceremonies, although Arnold’s is the only one that is inviting the public to attend.
The Arnold High event will include representatives from local law enforcement, military bases and community leaders who will turn out to remember 9/11 with Bay County students.
Gilson hopes the ceremony will help those who are too young to remember the morning over 3,000 Americans died during the terrorist strikes.
“I feel if we don’t remind them of their freedoms, they’ll forget someone had to die to get us to where we are now as a nation,” Gilson said. “I hope they’ll come away from the ceremony with a sense of community and history.”
WANT TO GO?
J.R. Arnold High School will hold its annual 9/11 Commencement Ceremony on today at 9:30 in front of the school. The public is welcome to attend the tribute and view a fragment of the Pentagon Façade housed in the school’s auditorium.