Beverly Hills High School Marks the 25th Anniversary of September 11 Through Learning and Remembranc

Beverly Hills, CA (September 11, 2026) – Beverly Hills Unified School District commemorated the 25th anniversary of September 11 with a remembrance ceremony at Beverly Hills High School, honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks, the courage of those who responded, and the families whose lives were forever changed. Through spoken names, personal reflection, and a shared gathering beneath the American flag, students were entrusted with carrying their memory forward.

Held in the K.L. Peters Auditorium, the assembly opened with the Pledge of Allegiance led by the Beverly Hills Police and Fire Department Honor Guard. Principal Loan Sriruksa welcomed students to a program featuring Superintendent Dr. Alex Cherniss, Board of Education President Judith Manouchehri, Beverly Hills Mayor Craig Corman, and Beverly Hills Fire Chief Greg Barton. The Beverly Hills Police Chief and members of the Beverly Hills City Council also joined the school community in remembrance.

Students received cards bearing the names of people who lost their lives on September 11. At Dr. Cherniss’s invitation, they stood and read those names aloud. The act gave each student a person to remember and a direct role in honoring lives that ended before their own began.

That responsibility took on particular meaning when Manouchehri shared the story of Edward Straub, the grandfather of a current Beverly Hills High School senior. Straub was working in the South Tower of the World Trade Center when he was killed. His son was just 22 years old at the time; his grandson would grow up without the opportunity to meet him.

“Today, we remember Edward Straub as a person, not merely as one of the nearly 3,000 lives lost,” said Board of Education President Judith Manouchehri. “We remember him as a father, a husband, a colleague, and now, as the grandfather of one of our own Normans.”

Manouchehri dedicated the assembly to everyone whose life was forever changed by September 11, with special remembrance of Straub. Her remarks connected a national tragedy to a family within the school community and asked students to honor those lost through learning, compassion, and unity.

“You do not have to have lived through September 11 to remember it. You do not have to have witnessed that day to honor its victims,” Manouchehri said. “You honor them by learning their stories.”

The program also included an excerpt from the documentary 9/11: One Day in America, giving students an opportunity to learn through primary sources, including firsthand accounts from people who experienced the attacks. Hearing those personal stories helped students connect the historical events to the lives of those who witnessed them, deepening their understanding of the day and its lasting impact.

At other BHUSD schools, age-appropriate activities centered on the theme Remember Through Kindness and Service, helping students explore tolerance, gratitude, and the ways they can be helpers and everyday heroes in their schools and community.

Following the assembly, students gathered on the Grand Lawn, where the Beverly Hills Police and Fire Chiefs presented the School Resource Officers with an American flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol on September 11, 2001. Through the efforts of Benny Salzman, BHHS Senior and President of Model UN, the flag was donated to Beverly Hills High School to be flown during the remembrance and permanently displayed on campus. Its presence offered students an enduring connection to a defining day in the nation’s history. The officers raised the flag to half-staff as the Beverly Hills High School Madrigals sang “America the Beautiful,” bringing the morning’s remembrance to a close.

Twenty-five years after September 11, the observance brought history into focus through individual lives, firsthand testimony, and a connection within the school community. For Beverly Hills High School students, the morning reinforced the purpose of learning history: to understand the experiences of those who came before them, recognize how the past continues to shape the present, and carry those lessons forward with knowledge and compassion.

View Photos

Students, educators, city leaders, and first responders come together to honor lives lost and carry forward lessons of compassion, service, and unity.

Photo Credit: The Beverly Hills Unified School District

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For Immediate Release 
September 11, 2026

Contact: Colby Gilardian
Public Information Officer
[email protected] 
(310) 871-8246 Mobile