Whiz Kid: 9/11 Hero’s Son Requests Moment of Silence

Whiz Kid: Sean Jordan, 9

School: Westhampton Beach Elementary School

Whiz Kid's Accomplishment: Suggested to the Westhampton Beach School Board on April 25 that a moment of silence be held on a regular basis for those who lost their lives on September 11 and during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness:  On September 11, 2001, Jordan, who was still in his womb, lost his father, who was a New York City Firefighter.

Nine years later, Jordan stood before the Westhampton Beach School Board to request that the school district hold regular moments of silence for those who died on September 11, 2001 and during the attacks on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Without disclosing that his father died a hero on September 11, Jordan, said, “So many people don’t remember these important days. It wasn’t so long ago that they happened.”

School Board President Aram Terchunian told Jordan, “That is very thoughtful that you came before us.”

Lynn Schwartz, superintendent of schools, agreed and said, “As a former history teacher, it was important that you came forward.”

Schwartz said it is a district policy to fly the American flag at half-mast on national holidays, but the district does not have a practice in place for moments of silence.

The board, as a whole, then agreed to make it a district policy to hold a moment of silence each September 11 and December 7 to remember the lives lost and scarifies made for the United States of America.