Rye City School District marked the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, through moments of remembrance, reflection and learning centered on honoring the lives lost and the courage, service and selflessness demonstrated that day.
On Friday at Rye High School, the day began with a buildingwide moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., marking the time the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Later in the morning, students learned about the life and heroism of Welles Crowther, known as “The Man in the Red Bandana,” and brother of Rye High School counselor Honor Fagan, before gathering with faculty and staff at Nugent Stadium for a schoolwide commemoration.
Crowther was working in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Survivors later described a man wearing a red bandana who helped guide people to safety through the smoke and fire. Their accounts ultimately helped identify Crowther, whose actions that day became a lasting example of courage and selflessness. The commemoration came just days after Crowther was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump this past Tuesday, September 8th.
The ceremony at Nugent Stadium began with the national anthem, performed by Rye High School student Scarlett Plauche, followed by remarks from Principal Andrew Hara. Hara opened by honoring Christopher Mello, a 1994 Rye High School graduate who lost his life in the Sept. 11 attacks. Remembered as a leader and brilliant individual, Mello is also honored through a memorial near the school’s trophy case.
Fagan then shared reflections about her brother, emphasizing that Crowther’s heroism was rooted in the way he lived each day, including his kindness and tendency to include others. Several Rye administrators and teachers wore red bandanas in his memory. Fagan concluded her remarks by encouraging students to “Remember kindness, remember compassion, remember Welles.”
Members of the City of Rye Police Department and Fire Department also attended and were recognized during the ceremony. The commemoration concluded with Rye High School student Rocco DeFife performing “Taps” as attendees stood and members of the police and fire departments saluted, followed by a moment of silence.
The commemoration extended to the district’s younger students through a reading of The Man in the Red Bandanna, a children’s book written by Fagan about her brother. Fagan visited fifth-grade students at Midland, Milton and Osborn schools on September 10 to share the book and Welles’ story ahead of the anniversary.
The district’s commemorations created opportunities for students across grade levels to learn, remember and reflect while honoring the victims, survivors, first responders and all those impacted by September 11, 2001.
