Middle School talks honor in special 9/11 convocation
Middle School talks honor in special 9/11 convocation
Middle Schoolers attended a special 9/11 Remembrance Honor Assembly today, September 11. Instead of breaking for recess, the entire Middle School sat in their “Houses” in the gym as they listened to speakers on topics of 9/11, the Honor Code and community.
Rev. Mary Demmler opened the Assembly in prayer. She was in New York on September 11, 2001 and shared with the middle schoolers a first hand account of what she experienced that day. She shared how she got a call from her brother that the Towers had been hit by a plane, and how she thought he had to have been joking. She recounted how someone she knew who worked in the Twin Towers had offered to get his coworkers coffee that day, and of his shock at realizing that was the only reason he wasn’t in the Towers when they fell. She painted a vivid mental picture of the chaos of that day in the streets of New York - of the dust and ash she saw, thickly covering even the emergency personnel as they rushed by and of the stark and eerie emptiness of one of the busiest areas in the city.
“I share this with you because I want to try to take some of the pain I feel in my heart so that you can understand what it feels like,” said Demmler. “You will experience being brokenhearted and being in pain. Someday, something big will happen to you. You have to hold on to those moments and remember what it feels like, because it gives you an anchor point for compassion. It opens up your heart to feel what others are feeling. Prepare your heart for your own 9/11’s so that you can live a life of compassion through integrity and love.”
Mr. Bill Rothe, Head of the Middle School, spoke about the incredible sense of community that was born out of the September 11 tragedy in the United States. He said that community is vital in a country and that it is also vital in a school and how the Honor Code in the Middle School helps to foster that community.
Anja Racic ‘19, Head of the Honor Council in the Upper School, came to speak to the middle schoolers about Rabun Gap’s Honor Code. Students at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School promise to uphold honor with their words and actions and promise not to lie, cheat or steal. They promise to accept responsibility for their actions and for what others do in their presence, acknowledge the need for honor, and pledge to defend it.
Racic said that the Honor Code helps to foster a safe environment that is built on mutual respect for one another, despite differences. It helps to keep distractions out when a student is trying to focus on exceling. She encouraged the students to develop their sense of honor now, before they get to high school. She challenged them not only to have honor here at school, but also outside of Rabun Gap; not because anyone is requiring morals or honor, but because it’s the right way to live.
“How can you take this Honor Code and carry it with you as a person?” Racic asked the students. “We are the ones who have to make the conscious decision to have morals.”
The students left the gym by Houses and were each given the chance to dip their finger in paint to put their mark on the Honor Rock, a symbol of each middle schooler’s commitment to keeping the Honor Code. They stood together around the half-mast United States flag and said the Pledge of Allegiance as a community committed to each other.
Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School
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Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School is a private, coeducational day and boarding school for grades Pre-K through 12. Centrally located between Atlanta, GA, Greenville, SC, and Asheville, NC, we prepare young people for college, career, and a lifetime of leadership and service.
