Changed by 9/11: A Unique BOE Memory

Everyone remembers where they were when news came that a plane had crashed into the first World Trade Center tower. Everyone also remembers the horror of learning it was just the first of several terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.

For former Babylon School Superintendent Ellen Best-Laimit and board trustee Roger Katz, those moments are shared memories as the two learned about the events while Katz was visiting the school chief's office. They were talking about Katz' passion for growing fig trees right before the events took place.

During a recent board of education meeting Katz presented Best-Laimit with a special parting gift, her own fig tree to grow and nuture.

"This is a very symbolic gift," she told the audience at the board meeting. "We were in the office at the time [the twin towers were hit] and shared the experience of learning about the events and it was a special moment of comraderie," she recalled.