LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Friday marks 25 years since the 9/11 terror attacks, a day that carries particular weight at Palo Verde High School.
Barbara Edwards taught German at the school. She had flown back east for a family trip, and on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, she boarded a plane in Washington, D.C.
She never made it home.
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A morning that changed everything
On the morning of 9/11, Palo Verde High School was like most schools across America, watching in real time as the attacks unfolded. Lisa Schumacher was a young teacher at Palo Verde at the time.
“Walking down hallways… felt so dark and quiet,” Schumacher said. “There was a panic… but teaching went on… the school day went on.“
She added, “Initially we had the TVs on in the classroom, but when towers collapsed we turned them off, turned them off.”
A handful of teachers knew Edwards was flying home that morning but didn’t know which flight.
“We were waiting on confirmation, knew Barb was on a plane, didn’t know for sure if it was one of hers,” teacher Alanna Robinson said.
Confirmation of the news
As the hours passed with no word, Robinson and another teacher, Ember Naparstek grew more anxious. News finally came early the next morning, in a phone call Carol Campbell said she will never forget.
“She called about 2-2:30 the next morning and told me Barb was on the plane that went into the Pentagon, Flight 77,” Campbell said.
Edwards was one of 184 people who died at the Pentagon.
“People cried on shoulders, hugged, tried to make it through the best we could,” Campbell said.
“It was really hard to believe and crushed us in that moment, really did,” Campbell said.
Remembering Barbara Edwards
Schumacher is now the principal at Palo Verde High School. Over the past 25 years, she and other teachers have made it their mission to make sure people remember Edwards, who loved soccer, her students and to laugh.
“She had this infectious laugh. Whenever she laughed, you couldn’t help but laugh with her,” Campbell said.
“Oh my gosh, the things she would say, no filter, no filter whatsoever,” Schumacher said.
“There are pieces of Barb everywhere. Eleven of us work here that knew and love her and miss her every day,” Campbell said.
Students at Palo Verde High School learn about 9/11 through the story of Edwards, a Palo Verde Panther. Her photo, along with sketches, plaques and memorials, are displayed across campus.
“How she’s always gonna be a Panther, always part of the community, and share that… part of our Palo legacy,” Schumacher said.
Palo Verde High School will honor Edwards and the other victims of the Sept. 11 attacks Friday with a ceremony led by the Air Force JROTC and the school choir.
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