School News

G.C. Tech honors 9/11 victims

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Students at the Levittown School District’s Gerald R. Claps Career and Technical Center recently completed a two-year project to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2011 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. 

During the Levittown Board of Education meeting on Sept. 21, the G.C. Tech Key Club unveiled a 10-by-10-foot memorial quilt that they created to honor 9/11 victims. District officials said that students, faculty and community members constructed the blanket with clothe squares “depicting the heartfelt and personalized sentiments of contributors.”

All of the patches feature hand-drawn, painted and embroidered designs that confer each contributor’s conception of that day. District officials explained that, although the students were too young to remember the attacks in detail, they were still able to reflect on this dark historical moment. 

“This is our way of honoring all of the beloved lives lost that day,” Key Club Adviser Lillian Creedon said.  

Dr. Tonie McDonald, Levittown’s superintendent, said that the 9/11 quilt would hang on the wall outside of her office throughout the 2016-17 academic year year. This summer, the piece will be gifted to the Levittown Public Library. Levittown Library Board President Margaret Santer and Trustee Rich Santer attended the board meeting, thanking students and school officials for the gift. 

Students at G.C. Tech can earn a Regents Diploma with a career and technical endorsement through coursework in automotive technology, computer animation, cosmetology, culinary arts, electrical technology, graphic arts, medical assisting and police science/EMT. The Levittown School District serves students residing in northern sections of Wantagh and Seaford.