Wheaton middle school students serve breakfast to 'heroes'

It would be understandable if 12-year-old David Bein and his Edison Middle School classmates struggle to comprehend what happened on Sept. 11, 2001.

After all, some of them had just learned to walk and talk and couldn't be expected to understand the gravity of what occurred.

But as David speaks about the tragedy, he gives the impression he knows what happened that day and in the years that followed.

He talks about the American response. He talks about the World Trade Center as if he had known about the towers for years. And he talks about the heroes of that day.

“It's important for everybody to think about 9/11,” he said. “The World Trade Center collapsed, the Pentagon was hit, people died. Most of the people my age, we might remember a little bit about 9/11 and it's not necessarily all bad.”

Every year around Sept. 11, David and his family sit down to discuss what happened. Part of the good stories that David alludes to are tales of firefighters and police officers who rushed into the burning towers.

On Friday morning, David and other Edison students saluted those heroes by paying tribute to local emergency responders.

Roughly 20 Wheaton firefighters and police officers attended the school's “Serving Those Who Serve” breakfast.

The event culminated two weeks of lesson plans revolving around Sept. 11. Students painted a mural depicting firefighters and police officers at the Wheaton school and wrote about their heroes on paper chains that lined the ceiling.

Principal Dave Kanne said the students observed a moment of silence before they set up the breakfast.

“One of the many lessons we took away is to have a nice, healthy respect for heroism,” he said. “What a group of students and staff decided to do was make our recognition about the heroes. Some of them thought maybe the best way to recognize (heroes) was to serve the guys who serve us.”

When eighth-grade social studies teacher Laura Morgan visited New York City this summer, she said she was moved by people who seemed to help each other and who respected her firefighter friend.

She wanted to pass that kind of respect on to her students.

“The spirit of service was so humbling and inspiring and I said, ‘We need to bring it back to Wheaton,'” Morgan said.

In an emotional grand finale, the students showed that spirit.

After breakfast was served and the police officers and firefighters chatted with a small contingent of students for about 30 minutes, the responders were surprised as the entire student body lined the halls of the school and cheered them on as they made their way out of the building.

Some officers were moved to tears. Police officer Tim Magnier said the display was an “awesome effort.”

“By not only remembering what happened but by getting involved and embracing police and firefighters, you get a positive out of a negative event,” he said. “You have a sense of connection.”

Fire Lt. Scott Mensing said he was humbled by the attention but risking his life as other firefighters do is just a part of the job. He said people like Principal Kanne are just as much heroes as the firefighters.

“He's a hero, day in and day out,” Mensing said. “These people are teaching our kids to be better students, to be better people.”

As firefighters and police officers arrived, students escorted them from the front door to a hallway just outside the cafeteria.

The painted mural caught the eyes of some, as did the paper chains. Wheaton Mayor Mike Gresk and Superintendent Brian Harris arrived to pay tribute to both the emergency responders and the students and teachers.

Although Morgan said talking to students about the horror is difficult, the Wheaton College grad said it is important to highlight the giving spirit of service that can be practiced at any time.

“You can still teach them that it was a life-changing event,” she said. “But you also ask them why we have to wait for a tragedy to inspire humanity.”