Under a sharp sun and clear skies, dozens of students at Sunnyside High School ran up and down the bleacher steps this morning to commemorate the 343 firefighters who died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Students were munching on popsicles and jumping hesitantly into ice baths to keep themselves cool at the school’s football stadium. Little white paper dots filled the ground where Matthew Coody’s students were holepunching cards each time someone reached the end of the bleachers.
Altogether, the challenge demands they ascend 2,200 steps. It takes roughly 30-45 minutes to complete.
Sunnyside seniors Kendra Amaya and Saúl Sotelo were among the 50-plus people who participated. They’re also Coody’s students. He teaches Emergency Medical Services while serving as a part-time paramedic firefighter in Arivaca.
“This is a good way to let people know how physically hard firefighting is. Those firefighters on 9/11, they had to climb 110 floors just to save people,” Sotelo said.
“People were running out of the building because it was on fire, but (the firefighters) were running into the building because it was on fire. That takes a lot of bravery,” he said.
“The systems that are put in place, like the airports, the security and all that, we didn’t have prior to 9/11. So all these systems are genuinely impacting us today even though we weren’t born then,” Amaya said.
The students say they’re proud, inspired and hoping next year’s climb will draw even more people.
