BHUSD Holds First 9/11 Remembrance on Attacks' 25th Anniversary

Beverly Hills Unified School District held its first September 11 remembrance Friday, bringing students together in the high school's new K.L. Peters Auditorium to mark the attacks' 25th anniversary by remembering the people whose lives ended that morning.

Students received cards bearing victims' names, connecting the history they were learning with individual people: parents, children, siblings and friends who left home expecting to return.

Superintendent Dr. Alex Cherniss asked students to stand and read those names aloud, making them active participants in the remembrance.

"Please stand and prepare to honor your fellow Americans who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001."

Cherniss reminded students that the people they were honoring had lives and aspirations of their own.

"Just like you. They have their own stories. They have their own dreams."

The day's observance also included Beverly Hills Police Department officers raising an American flag that had flown at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001. Students gathered around the high school's flagpole as officers saluted.

Board of Education President Judith Manouchehri brought the tragedy closer to home. A senior at the school, she told students, had never met his grandfather, who was killed while working in the World Trade Center's south tower. The student's father was just 22 when he lost his dad.

Beverly Hills police officers raise an American flag that flew over Ground Zero during Beverly Hills High School's remembrance of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Beverly Hills police officers raise an American flag that flew over Ground Zero during Beverly Hills High School's remembrance of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Manouchehri dedicated the assembly to those whose lives were forever changed by the attacks, with special remembrance of that student's grandfather. His family's loss illustrated how the consequences continue across generations.

"You need not have lived through September 11 to remember it. You do not have to have witnessed that day to honor its victims."

She urged students to preserve the victims' stories and recognize their shared humanity.

"You honor them by learning their stories. You honor them by saying their names like we just did together."

Mayor Craig Corman recalled first hearing about the attacks while driving his son to preschool. Before a documentary featuring firsthand accounts, emergency calls and news coverage, he asked students to watch with maturity and respect.

"They were sons and daughters, they were mothers and fathers. They were brothers and sisters. They were friends, neighbors, coworkers, and members of their communities."

Corman's message echoed the purpose of the cards students had received.

"But every one of those individuals had a name, a story, a family, and a life that mattered."

Manouchehri asked students to carry that understanding beyond the auditorium, recalling how Americans supported one another after the attacks.

"Today I ask you to carry forward the lesson that, even in our darkest moments, unity gives us strength."