Although Oak Ridge High School (ORHS) is about 600 miles from the site of the terrorist attacks in New York City that caused the death of over 3,000 civilians and hundreds of emergency workers and has been the subject of a barrage of memorials in the past week, one of the school’s faculty members has spearheaded a movement to create a unique and lasting tribute to the events that will live in Americans conscience for generations to come.
Ken Senter, a six-year ORHS history teacher, has taken it upon himself to memorialize that tragic day and ensure that students for years to come will understand the permanent ramifications that the events on September 11th, 2002 had on our world.
Senter has worked and lobbied for the past year to put together an appropriate reminder that will be permanently on display at the Anderson County School.
“We worked with State Representatives Randy McNally and Gene Caldwell and they put the resolution through the State General Assembly and it was passed unanimously on April 17th, 2002,” Senter said, explaining how his idea started to become a reality earlier this year.
“Before that, Zach Wamp (US Representative) had a paragraph entered into the Congressional Record that explained our idea and commended it.
“After that, we eventually got in touch with a man named David Leach at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who was in charge of the Fresh Kills Landfill. He sent us the two pieces of steel and the granite.
“For a long time no one would listen to us until he sent us the steel and then everybody listened to us. I thanked him profusely but he said that he was just doing his duty.”
Senter said that he made a drive to New York himself earlier this year to retrieve the smaller pieces of steel that are used in the memorial. The two larger pieces of steel and granite, which were sent by Leach, arrived at the school on July 8th, 2002. The memorial, which is made up entirely of pieces from the World Trade Center buildings that collapsed after the attacks, was designed by Senter and his students.
“We are using the smaller beam that I went to get myself, and one of the larger beams,” said Senter when describing the memorial. “We hope that they will portray the horror and humiliation that we felt by the surprise attack. But we also want it to be an anti-terrorism memorial that will speak to the victims of terrorism around the world, as well as those of 9-11.”
The city of Oak Ridge gained some attention following the terrorist attacks because it was selected as one of three cities in America to assist in the production of atomic bombs by the U.S. Government after World War II.
“Even today we are on high alert,” said Senter. All of the Federal Installations in the city have barricades up and they have been all year. That sort of started with the Oklahoma City bombing but it has definitely magnified since last September 11th.”
“When the attacks occurred, our government plan was immediately locked down. Some of our kids here at school didn’t see their parents until late that night. Oak Ridge was appointed by the government as the place where the fuel would be made for the atomic bomb following World War II, so National Security has been a big part of the way we think around here.”
Senter is already seeing a positive effect on his students in the short time that the 9-11 memorial has been in the works.
“Students have responded very well,” Senter added. “We gave out ribbons (last Wednesday morning) and I see most kids wearing them. I had a kid come up to me today and just congratulated me on what has been done. It seems to mean something to each individual student. I know I’ll teach harder and I think my students will try to learn harder, having this memorial here on campus.”

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