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Three Coal City High School students commemorated the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by replicating the climb taken by first responders at the World Trade Center. Gavin Zeich and Zander and Gavin Nicola, who are cadets with local fire departments, donned their fire gear and climbed stairs at the Coal City High School Stadium on Sunday, September 7.
The students completed a total of 2,071 steps, matching the effort made by New York City firefighters during the events of that day. Family and friends gathered to support them as they honored those who lost their lives in the attacks, including 343 firefighters. Each cadet displayed the name and photo of a fallen firefighter on their air packs during the stair climb.
All three participants are members of the Braceville Fire Protection District, with Zander Nicola also recently joining the Mazon Fire Protection District. As part of their roles as cadets, they spend several hours each week training with their departments to learn life-saving techniques for community service.
Coal City High School is part of Coal City Community Unit School District 1, which serves Grundy and Will counties through several schools including Coal City Early Childhood Center, Coal City Elementary School, Coal City Intermediate School, and Coal City Middle School (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). According to data from the Illinois State Board of Education, this district employs 153 teachers with an average salary of $69,297; about 78 percent are women and just over 22 percent are men. The district reports that no teachers had more than ten absences in a school year (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
Demographically, approximately 87 percent of students in Coal City Community Unit School District 1 are White; nearly ten percent are Hispanic; less than one percent are Black or Asian (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In 2020, spending per student was $21,619 for a total expenditure of $47 million (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
