Editor’s note: As America pauses to reflect on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, it is important to remember that Reynolds has its own tragic connection to that dark day. The following story appeared in the September 2011 edition of Pine Whispers.

By Abby Tatter, Pine Whispers

More than 10 years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the tragic nature of the victims’ stories continues to stir emotions for people around the country. Students and faculty at Reynolds High School are no exception.

Throughout the school year, Reynolds displays its own tribute to a victim of the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people when the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., were hit by three hijacked planes and a fourth hijacked plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

Sandra D. Teague, a Reynolds alumna from the class of 1988, died as a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77, which terrorists crashed into the Pentagon. The 31-year-old Teague was bound for Australia for her first trip abroad. She had made plans for rafting, trekking and rock climbing.

A plaque in Teague’s memory is displayed in the main office throughout the year.

“I see a lot of people stop and look at the plaque as soon as they walk into the front office,” said Susan Gordon, Reynolds’ administrative assistant. “It is interesting to watch them read it, because I can tell where they are on the plaque based on the emotions that they are showing.”

The plaque gives information about Teague’s accomplishments and interests and what she enjoyed as a student at Reynolds, including marching band and being with friends. It also displays a picture of Teague at Reynolds with a group of classmates.

“It is nice that so many people take time to stop and read the plaque,” Gordon said.

The anniversary of the attacks brings responses from people all across America. In order to commemorate all of those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks, a memorial has been constructed in New York City on Ground Zero, the lot where the World Trade Center towers once stood.

According to the official 9/11 Memorial website, the memorial is “a tribute of remembrance and honor to the nearly 3,000 people killed at the World Trade Center site, near Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon, as well as the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993.”

The memorial covers eight acres and contains two reflecting pools, each almost an acre in size. Each reflecting pool is placed where one of the Twin Towers used to stand and holds the largest manmade waterfalls in North America. The names of the victims of the attacks are inscribed into the bronze panels on the edges of the pools.

The names are arranged by group instead of alphabetically: “Sandra Dawn Teague,” for example, is around the south pool on panel S-69 with other victims from Flight 77.

“I go to New York City pretty frequently and I saw the construction site for the 9/11 Memorial on a trip up there a few years ago,” senior Natalie Kretzschmar said. “When it is open to the public, I’ll definitely be sure to go see it. It is really nice that there is going to be something there to honor all the people that died.”

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Pine Whispers would like to include a photo of Teague’s memorial plaque at the World Trade Center site with this story. Please email adviser Steve Hanf at [email protected] if you have visited the site and would be willing to share a photo with our readers.