This morning’s ribbon-cutting ceremony formally dedicated the “Reflecting Hope” sculpture at Council Rock South.   Funded by a grant from the Council Rock Education Foundation, the sculpture is  is a stainless steel form in the shape of the new One World Trade Center that encases an actual I-beam artifact from the ruins of the attack on the World Trade Center.  Superintendent Dr. Fraser, Principal Al Funk and other dignitaries participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony that included music by the South Vocal Ensemble.

While the story of 9/11 is a story of horrific loss and heartbreak, it is also a story of courage, survival, and hope.  As a positive response to the events of that day, Council Rock South art students designed a sculpture to showcase the 9-11 artifact embracing the theme of hope. Led by art teacher Martha Taylor, this was an innovative and collaborative design-build process involving many students across different departments.  Once the design was submitted from the art students, a team of math students measured the angles of the building’s shadows, charted the daily differences, and provided a map for placement of the artifact and sculpture at exactly where the sun crests into the garden and out of the shadow on September 11^th  at 8:46am – the time the first tower was hit.

CREF Board members and CREF grant recipient Martha Taylor pose celebrate the dedication of the REFLECTING HOPE sculpture.

Special thanks to professional sculptor Ray Faunce for creating the encasement based on the students’ design and to Bob Gasper of Gasper Landscaping for the beautiful pavers that surround the sculpture.  The Council Rock Education Foundation was honored to have been able to support this innovative project.

As the guardians of this significant piece of history, Council Rock South is using this artifact as an educational tool to inform and inspire its students. Today with reverence and dignity, it was formally dedicated into the Sculpture Garden at South.

from l to r: Josh Itkoff, Lt. Dave Jacoby, Officer Jim Caldwell, Suzanne Wray, Fred Bauer, Martha Taylor, Dr. Robert Fraser, Ray Faunce, Barry Desko, Al Funk, Andy Block and Bob Gasper.