For nearly 10 years, students, faculty and staff at Georgia Highlands College (GHC) have placed 2,977 American flags at the Cartersville site in remembrance of those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.
The event is organized by Veterans Affairs Coordinator Amy Wise.
“September 11, 2001, changed America – it’s important to honor the victims of the attack and to remember the families that still grieve,” Wise said.
On September 7, Professor of English Rachel Wall brought her American Literature II students to participate as a service-learning project, with the flags being placed in front of the A building.
“It’s always nice to give back, and with literature there’s normally not a lot we can do with service learning,” Wall said. “But the flag placement is very appropriate as the time period of 9/11 coincides with some of the later American literature students are reading in class.”
In addition, the annual flag placement is made possible through the efforts of students like Brandi Woodall, who served active duty in the U.S. Navy from 2013 to 2018, and in the Navy Reserves for two years.
Woodall enrolled at GHC in 2019 and is near completing a Bachelor of Science in Health Science from the Atrium Health Floyd School of Health Sciences at GHC. She also serves as a student worker in the Veterans Center at GHC, helping to answer questions for student veterans.
“This is my fourth year doing the flag placement, and I know a lot of the kids who go to GHC are a lot younger and don’t fully know what 9/11 was,” Woodall said. “Every year will ask what’s going on with all the flags, and so I explain it to them.”
As a student veteran, Woodall said the Veterans Center has served as a valuable resource as she works to complete her degree, and has advice for veterans seeking to begin or complete a college degree:
“Talk to Amy [Wise]. She can lead you to anything you need,” Woodall said.
Classes start in October. Apply today at apply.highlands.edu, or connect with an admissions counselor at go.highlands.edu
For information on military and veterans services at GHC, click here
