Twenty-five years ago, the country was changed forever by the events of September 11, 2001. In the days and weeks that followed, people across the nation searched for ways to help, show support and remind one another that, even in the midst of tragedy, they were not alone. At Peculiar Elementary School, teachers and students were trying to make sense of something that felt impossibly far away—and yet somehow very close.
First-grade teachers Cathy Pittman, Dawn Fellhauer, Jill Fields, and Sheri Capper joined with students and staff to create a banner that would be carried to New York City by a Peculiar Elementary parent and firefighter who was traveling there to assist with relief efforts. The parent's twins were students at the school.
The banner was made up of each student's handprint and name - a simple gesture from a small Missouri community and a way for students to let people in New York know they were thinking of them. For some of the teachers, the project was especially personal because they also had children attending Peculiar Elementary at the time.
The banner eventually made its way to New York, and the teachers even received a photo of the parent and their team holding it in front of their trucks, with the Statue of Liberty in the background. After that, they had no idea where the banner would end up or whether anyone would remember it.
That changed earlier this year when Capper received an unexpected email from a stranger.
The person reached out to let her know that the banner created by Peculiar Elementary staff and students was still hanging in a federal building in the Bronx.
For the teachers, the discovery was a powerful reminder that even the smallest acts can have a lasting impact.
"It's really neat that it meant enough to somebody at this point to reach out and share that email to say, 'Wanted you to know that it's still hanging here. You probably haven't thought of this in a while.'" Capper said.
Today, Pittman, Fellhauer, Fields, and Capper are all still part of the Ray-Pec School District, although they now work at different schools.
Looking back, they can see something they couldn't have known in 2001: The banner wasn't just a school project. It became a lasting message from Peculiar students to people thousands of miles away.
"The biggest piece was that we were able to help them [the students] and us process this. And that we can still talk about this today. I was just telling my son about this and he was moved by the story," says Fellhauer.
What began with a group of teachers and students wanting to help became a piece of Peculiar Elementary history, and 25 years later, that message of support is still hanging in New York City.
Pictured left to right: Cathy Pittman, Jill Fields, Sheri Capper, and Dawn Fellhauer