The CLMS Banner Finally Comes Home

Perhaps all banners are created equal. some are more equal than others.

Tuesday afternoon, a group of about 100 people watched the return of a 9-11 banner to Clark Lane Middle School. Clark Lane Middle School eighth graders made the poster 10 years ago to honor the victims and first responders of 9-11, and ten years later, with the help of a volunteer firefighter, it returned home.

“It's crazy, it's unbelievable, it's great,” said Kelsey Kaiser, who as an eighth grader helped make the poster, and now as a 23-year-old works at the school. “I love it because I can see it every day.”

The banner hangs in the lobby of Clark Lane Middle School, surrounded by images of students originally creating the banner and of the 9-11 attacks.

“It shouldn’t stay at my house anymore,” said Anthony Medico, who is the assistant chief of the Glenville, Connecticut fire department and was instrumental in bringing the banner back to CLMS. “It had to go home.”

The Story

Following the 9-11 attacks, Clark Lane Middle School teacher Kathy Ladd knew her eighth grade class had to do something. So, she had them make a poster honoring the first responders and victims of the attacks, with students writing messages to the families and survivors.

The poster was sent to New York to be hung up in a line of posters around Ground Zero. Clark Lane’s, just by chance, was hung at the very end of the line, closest to Ground Zero, in front of the famous Ladder 10 and Engine 10 Firehouse.

“After the banner, there was nothing but the pit,” Medico said. “And it was in the most high trafficked area.”

Medico, meanwhile, was a volunteer firefighter in Greenwich who wanted to help out the first responders in New York in 2001. So he and three other in his department went to the site to see what they needed to do.

When they got into New York, they were sent to Ground Zero, where they lugged around equipment and did some work on the site. Medico took a quick break, sitting across from the poster, which was weathered and falling apart.

Knowing it was about to crumble if it stayed outside any longer, Medico put it in his pocket and continued on with the rest of the day. When he finally got home to Glenville, he realized he still had it in his pocket.

Finding CLMS

He knew the banner was from a school in Connecticut, but he had no idea what town it came from. There was one student in one of the pictures who had a CLMS shirt, but he searched the letters and couldn’t find any results.

So he put it in a box and forgot about it. Then, almost ten years after he brought it home, he took out the poster again to show his children.

His son told him to find the people who made the poster, and when Medico said he tried and failed, his son told him to try Facebook. The two went to the computer and searched the names they could make out on the banner in Facebook, finding one at Clark Lane Middle School.

One name on the banner was Bruce Thorndike, who was the principal at the time in 2001. Medico called Clark Lane Middle School, and asked a secretary if Thorndike worked there. When she said he did at that time, he knew he had a match.

He sent the banner to , along with a letter. Lovetere and current Principal Jim Sachs searched for students who signed the banner, and the ceremony was finally held Tuesday.

The Ceremony

At the ceremony, Sachs, Lovetere, Ladd, Medico and First Selectman Dan Steward all gave speeches. The CLMS chorus sang two songs.

At the ceremony, Medico said the banner really did make a difference. The first responders read those, and it “lifted their spirits,” he said.

“It really did do its job,” Medico said. “They were noticed. And I am so happy I was able to give it back to you all, so you’ll never forget.”