Santa Clarita Valley International School hosted its inaugural “First Responders” assembly in remembrance of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and honor first responders in the charter school’s courtyard on Thursday morning.
SCVi learners and staff got to spend the morning hearing performances of the national anthem, exploring sheriff’s deputy patrol cars and a fire truck, and learned about honoring people by displaying the American flag at half-mast.
Chad Powell, principal of SCVi, kicked off the assembly by explaining what it means to have a flag at half-mast.
“You’ll (learners) notice that our flag is not all the way at the top when we position the flag this way, it’s called having it at half-mast. And we do that when we want to honor the memory of Americans who made a big difference in our country. We want to remember that they left things better than they found them,” Powell said to the audience.
He continued by describing what first responders are and what their jobs are to protect people.
“First responders, such as our guests today, they ran into the danger when people were running the other way. They ran towards where the danger was. They put themselves at risk. They risk their own safety so that they could save the lives of others. That is heroism. That is courage,” Powell said.
Powell added that having courage and service is the only way people should live.
“I’m going to challenge each of you to live a life of courage and service. Remember that courage is not being without fear. Courage is when you’re afraid, but you do the right thing anyway … and I’m encouraging you to live a life of service,” Powell said. “Service is doing kindness for others, being there for others. We can all have simple acts of courage towards each other every day, and I would encourage you to do this, especially thinking what we’re thinking about on this Patriot’s Day.”
Powell said that one of the main reasons the school decided to have the assembly is to highlight gratitude and teach the children about the events in a “non-scary” way. He added that he wants his learners to understand and live lives with courage and service like first responders do.
Alexis Rasmussen, Parent-Teacher-Student Association treasurer, decided to volunteer for the assembly because she wanted to teach learners about being prideful of their country.
“I want them to have pride in their country and pride for their community, essentially. I mean, a lot of them have parents who are first responders and understand what they do every day, and the sacrifices they make and just, I’m so happy it turned out this way,” Rasmussen said.
Ever Mazza, president of the PTSA, said that these types of events help make first responders less intimidating for children.
“I think that there is an often a misconception that sometimes police officers are scary. Firefighters in their uniform can be a little scary and intimidating. They put on their uniforms for them, their whole, like firefighter get up, and they’re like, ‘See, it’s still me in here. You can see my face,’” Mazza said. “I’m going to come in and if you need help, I’m going to help you. And so being able to see a share of face to face and knowing them by name, it’s not scary.”
