By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
September 18, 2003

Several schools in the Diocese of Sioux City took time out of their school day to remember Sept. 11 and the events that surrounded that day.

Schools had varied types of ceremonies or prayer services that they used to be in a prayerful mood for the day.

At Pocahontas Catholic in Pocahontas, Mary Ellen Nilson, the principal, took prayers, songs, Scripture and petitions from the Internet to bring the school together. The whole school was in attendance at the 15-minute ceremony. They also sang God Bless America to end the ceremony.

"We talked about soul searching being done by everyone, and so they were going to work especially hard," added Nilson. "That was going to be a choice that they could make. To sort of offer that up for all those that lost their lives."

The students at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Fonda participated in a similar ceremony.

"At petition time, any student or teacher who had someone in the war was presented with a little flag," said Nilson, who is also the principal at Our Lady of Good Counsel. "We ended with singing America the Beautiful. I think this was really meaningful to the kids. You could tell just by the expressions on their face that they were thinking of sad times. We didn't want to leave them with that though."

The students in grades kindergarten through eighth at Sacred Heart School in Sioux City had a flag ceremony. Their ceremony began in the school with a Scripture reading over the PA system along with a prayer. The prayer talked about what happened two years ago. Then the Our Father was recited and the whole school headed to the parking lot in a silent procession and congregated around the flagpole.

"Father Collison said a prayer and a few words about patriotism and that the people that have died for our country and the trust in God that we have," said Marilyn Blum, the principal. "Every year we retire the flag that flies over the school for that year. We put it with the other ceremony. We did it last year, so we thought it was a good day to retire the old flag and put up a new one."

The honor guard, Cub Scouts, came out and took down the old flag and folded it. They then raised the new flag while the music teacher, Jeremy Mattheny, sang the National Anthem. The students and teachers joined in with him. The Pledge of Allegiance was said as it is recited every morning.

"We celebrated our great nation and went inside," said Blum. "We left it at half-mast because it was asked by the president to do it that way. So it was a really simple ceremony but we wanted to do it that way so that it meant a little bit more to them."

There were a lot of the students' families that were involved in the attacks in New York and the Iraq war on terrorism. Some of the fathers are just coming home. One of the fathers was there for the ceremony.

"I think it ties us in with those people who fight for our country and believe in the freedom of this nation. So it educates them at the same time it unites us together and presses the value of what these people do when they fight for our freedom," added Blum. "Especially that those that went away did come back. Our prayers were answered. The main thing that father said was that we needed to trust in God. When we raise the flag, we are celebrating our freedom and our trust in God."

The day started with prayer and a song to remind the students of St. Mary's High School in Remsen to be in a prayerful state throughout the day for the victims of Sept. 11. In the afternoon at 2:30 there was a program that consisted of prayer and song that the students also attended. Along with them was a representative from the fire department and from the police station.

"We raised our flag back up to full mast," said Rose Davis, principal at St. Mary's. "We finished the day with recognizing the victims again. We had several students and faculty who had loved ones or friends that lived in New York or Washington, D.C. and had direct contact with that tragedy. We have, as a nation, been healing, but still need to heal from that tragedy. This was part of it and they recognize it as part of the healing process."

The students at Spalding High School in Granville participated in a special morning prayer to remember the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

At Sacred Heart School in Spencer, the students participated in a living rosary. The rosary began with an introduction about Sept. 11 and a reminder to everyone of what happened that day two years ago. After the rosary, the students started their regular school day.

"We had several parents in attendance," said Ron Olberding the principal at Sacred Heart. "We had invited parents and parishioners to come. We had a nice crowd."

During the nine days prior to Sept. 11 the students prayed a novena provided by Father Roger Linnan, pastor at Sacred Heart. The novena was prayed during the daily announcements and read by two sixth grade students.

"As we did the novena prior to Sept. 11, the older students remembered," said Olberding. "You could tell they were thinking about that. All the kids were effected and that they were thinking about the victims and their families. They were old enough to know. Everyday the two sixth graders that were in were very much in sympathy by keeping the families in their prayers."

The campus ministry group at Briar Cliff University invited the campus to gather at noon in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel for a short prayer for the victims of Sept. 11 and their families and to pray for peace. Last year three trees were planted on the Briar Cliff campus to remember those who lost their lives.