PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks, a group of Pinellas County fourth- and fifth-graders is learning about a day they never experienced through art.
Students from several local schools created artwork honoring the victims and first responders who lost their lives in the attacks. Their work is being displayed during a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday at Curlew Hills Memorial Gardens in Palm Harbor.
For fourth-graders at Ozona Elementary School, 9/11 is history rather than a personal memory. Their teachers are using the art project to help students understand the significance of an event that changed the country.
“We thought, let’s bring two classes together for each collage and each student is gonna make their own print… and just create a whole community artwork,” said Elizabeth Keller, an Ozona Elementary art teacher.
This year marks the 10th year that Keller has worked with Curlew Hills on the project. The 25th anniversary inspired students to take a different approach.
25 years after the 9/11 attacks, a group of Pinellas 4th- and 5th-graders is learning about a day they never experienced through art. Their work is being displayed during a 9/11 remembrance ceremony Friday at Curlew Hills Memorial Gardens in Palm Harbor. https://t.co/BSnBk7XgXD pic.twitter.com/JvG0eP2TiF
— Spectrum Bay News 9 (@BN9) September 11, 2026
Students carved their own designs into printing plates and used ink to create dozens of individual images. More than 80 custom prints were then combined into two large collages — one centered on the number 25 and another featuring the American flag.
Some students chose to focus their artwork on the people who made the ultimate sacrifice.
“We can honor those who died in it, in 9-11,” fourth-grader Quinn Stauffer said.
Fourth-grader Zoe Swartzkopf said she was surprised to learn how many firefighters died while responding to the attacks.
“I didn’t know that 343 firefighters risked their lives,” she said. “And I’m just really grateful that I get to do this project.”
Classmate Carter Currier said the events of 9/11 changed the country forever.
“It happened so long ago, and it was just bad that it even happened,” Currier said. “It changed America forever.”
The student artwork will be displayed during Friday’s ceremony, giving children who have never known a world without the 9/11 attacks a way to help preserve the memory of those who died and those who responded.
The featured speaker is Genelle Guzman-McMillan, who survived after being trapped in the rubble of the World Trade Center for 27 hours. She was the last known survivor rescued from the wreckage.
In addition to the art projects, local schools participated in an essay contest. The winning student will be announced during the ceremony and will have an opportunity to read the winning essay.
The first-place winner will receive $500, while the second-place winner will receive $250.