By 8 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11 junior Faith Volpe had not only helped set thousands of miniature American flags in the memory of 9/11 victims, but she also assisted in continuing an annual tradition.

“I don’t think we should ever stop honoring those who have died in this very tragic incident,” Volpe said.

Each year, members of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), along with volunteer North students, come in early on the morning of 9/11 to create a display of American flags to honor the victims.

“I believe there are 2,997 (flags),” social studies teacher and YAF adviser Sean McCarroll said. “Each flag represents someone that died on 9/11, and I believe it was three short of 3,000.”

Created by North alumnus and former YAF chairman Grant Strobl, the project has continued for the past three years. Current YAF chairman, junior Trent Williams, is the key coordinator of the project and implemented new changes this year.

“Instead of two rows of flags leading into the student lot, we only did one, and we let more students plant flags on that median in the parking lot,” Williams said. “We gave more work to the students, and I think that makes it more special to everybody.”

Despite the changes made, the message of the yearly project remains the same according to McCaroll.

“It’s a good learning opportunity, especially for a lot of people now because 9/11 was 13 years ago, and most (students) were 1 to 4 years old when it happened. It’s a good time for us to reflect on the lives that were lost especially because most of those flags represent what I would consider heroes,” McCarroll said. “It’s good to honor them, and it sends a good signal towards the community, too: that we stand by the people who gave their lives for our freedom.”