Sachem East Gets New Sept. 11 Memorial

A new Sept. 11 memorial has been unveiled at a ceremony at Sachem High School East, 177 Granny Rd. in Farmingville, Sunday morning.

According to an announcement from the school district, the memorial’s design includes the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. The memorial sits directly in front of the school.

“The memorial was built to respect the memories of those lost,” Sachem East Principal Lou Antonetti said in the announcement.

The memorial’s concept was designed by Keith Connolly, a technology teacher at the school, and has been worked on for multiple years by Sachem Eastl’s freshman class.

Jaimie Sison, who advises the class with Meredith Babst, said that working on the project has been an honor.

“With this memorial we want to honor those we lost, especially in the Sachem community, but it’s also important to celebrate the lives of those who are still with us and continue to keep us safe,” Sison said.

Babst said that the area around the memorial is also planned to be developed and that their next venture is to make it more of a park-like setting.

During Sunday’s ceremony, students from both Sachem East and Sachem High School North received the first Timothy B. Higgins Memorial Scholarships. The ribbon for the memorial was cut by Cody Higgins, a Sachem East alum and former student-athlete who is the daughter of fallen firefighter and Sachem resident Timothy Higgins.