It was a somber day for the nation and students at Darlington were no less mindful of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Each school remembered the event in a unique way.
Upper School students walked in silence to chapel as one of the Riddle Bells in the Sennett Tower tolled. The Ladies Chorale chose the “Requiem Mass” to sing as special music.
The Rev. Dr. Joel Snider, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Rome, Ga., used the occasion as an opportunity to remind students that words really do matter. He referred to Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth when he spoke about works being written on each student’s life and heart. “Every day someone is reading the words of your life,” he said. “What would you write and say about your life? What does your life stand for? What is your motto?” he asked.
“Especially now in a word punctuated by Sept. 11, 2001, the world is too dangerous for anything but love, too short for anything but truth,” Snider said. He implored students to say, “I will stand for things that matter—truth, duty, honor, justice, right, and God.”
“The world needs you too much for you to write anything less than the best,” he said.
Middle School students and faculty displayed their patriotism on Sept. 11 by wearing red, white, and blue. At noon, Browning Wood, youth director, First Presbyterian Church, Rome, Ga., played the guitar and Bill Pardue, husband of Middle School teacher Shana Pardue, led the students in the Pledge of Allegiance and singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The Lower School remembered Sept. 11 by presenting a program for parents and friends called “This is America” In addition to two pieces of special music, “American Tears” and “This is America,” the Pledge of Allegiance was read and the entire student body sang “God Bless America.”
