Students Dedicate Shrine to Freedom

While admiring the Freedom Shrine at the  Hall last Veterans Day, student Jacqueline Schuman wondered aloud to Principal Karen Udell if their school could get one.

“When I saw it, I really loved it,” said Schuman, now in sixth grade. “I knew it would be great to have at , because everyone knows how hard the soldiers work, and now we’re giving them credit in the Freedom Shrine.”

Now, as the nation marks the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she is seeing her wish come true. After a special Patriot Day Mass on Friday morning to honor the victims and heroes of 9/11, the school formally dedicated its own Freedom Shrine.

The Shrine was made possible by the Exchange Club of Naperville, which will host a Sept. 11 ceremony at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Cmdr. Dan Shanower Memorial, behind the .

“Everything our country’s done is being remembered in the Freedom Shrine,” Schuman said, “because we’ve come a long way since Christopher Columbus.”

The shrine is comprised of 30 documents, which include the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Emancipation Proclamation, Mayflower Compact and more. The Exchange Club also included a firsthand account of Susan B. Anthony’s 1874 trial in which she was prosecuted for voting, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

“The Freedom Shrine documents represent only part of the story, for the story of freedom is unending and evolving. It continues to be written every day in each one of our lives, both in America and all over the world,” said Jennifer Cavalier, president-elect of the Exchange Club. “For just as freedom is one of the most sought-after human possessions, it is also one of the most fragile.”

Last fall, Udell contacted the Exchange Club to ask how the school could get a shrine. She was told to submit a written request, and it would be considered as the club prepared its 2012 budget. She submitted the proposal, “waited and prayed.”

In late spring, the Exchange Club’s Americanism Committee visited the school to survey the site. In July, three 200-pound boxes of documents arrived, and they were installed throughout August.

“This is a living classroom that will serve students for the next 50 years and beyond,” Udell said.

Eighth-grader Marc Berkowicz said the shrine will bring more meaning to what they are studying in class.

“It should really help with history because we don’t really get that much hands-on experience. We just kind of read the textbook,” said Berkowicz, who was part of the flag-raising ceremony earlier in the morning.

After Friday’s Patriot Day Mass, the Rev. Mark Jendrysik, pastor of , told students the anniversary of the terrorist attacks is an appropriate time to remember our freedom, something many others in the world do not have.

“Let us never take our freedom for granted because it is a gift," Jendrysik said. "It is a gift from our God, just like all the other gifts that we receive.”