CARIBOU, Maine – Last year, to honor the nearly 3,000 people who perished during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Amanda Baker walked up and down the stairs of Caribou Tech Center.
But as she climbed, Baker thought, “My students need to do this with me.”
That’s why this year Baker, her criminal justice students, local first responders, their families and other community members spent the evening of Sept. 11 walking the equivalent of 10 flights of stairs at Caribou Community School.
“I’m speechless,” Baker said Wednesday. “Seeing all these people climbing makes me want to cry.”
The first 9/11 memorial stair climb took place in 2005 when five Colorado firefighters walked 110 flights of stairs at a Denver high-rise building to honor firefighters who climbed 110 flights at the World Trade Center, according to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
On Wednesday, participants completed loops up and down the staircases at Caribou Community School, with each loop representing two flights of stairs at the World Trade Center, and totaling 10 flights. It was the first 9/11 memorial stair climb held in Caribou.
Many firefighters carried their oxygen tanks on their backs or donned their full gear in recognition of all that first responders on 9/11 had to carry up the grueling staircases.
During a brief ceremony before the climb, Caribou Fire & Ambulance Chief Brian Lajoie paid tribute to the 343 firefighters and 72 law enforcement officers who lost their lives 23 years ago.
“Each section of the World Trade Center buildings equaled 200,000 steps,” Lajoie said. “All simply to help strangers, like we do every day.”
Members of the Civil Air Patrol presented the nation’s colors while Lajoie, firefighters, police officers and border patrol agents stood together. Boy Scouts from Troop 184 in Caribou held open the American flag while Tammy Saucier played taps, then they folded the flag. Rev. Rodney Deschaine gave the opening prayer.
Eight of Baker’s students volunteered at the stair climb Wednesday and planned to complete their climb Thursday evening when they could fully devote time to that.
Though her students were not yet born when 9/11 occurred, Baker said she hoped they could feel the emotions in her voice while she spoke of that day, and gained a sense of community by being part of the climb.
Caribou seniors Taylor Walton and Savanah Brown said that planning the climb and seeing people gather taught them about leadership and unity, especially as they learned what happened on 9/11.
“It shows that in the event of a tragedy, people will always come together,” Brown said.
While they walked, people carried tags that each bore three names of people who died at the World Trade Center, including the first responders and office workers.
As the evening went on, Baker noticed that many tags were left unclaimed, so she passed out the rest to climbers, who eagerly agreed to carry them.
“We’re not leaving anyone behind,” Baker said.
