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As part of its annual Sept. 11 remembrance, Exchange Club of the San Ramon Valley hosted an essay contest for students throughout the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. This year's essay topic was "How 9-11 Influenced Volunteerism In America" and students in elementary, middle and high schools were invited to participate.

Three winners were chosen from each school level, with prizes from $500 to $300, along with several second place winners. Below are the winning essays:

High school winner, Waverly Runion
"Each Individual American"

They were the people waiting just outside the doors into the towers with stretchers and medical supplies. They were the people running up the stairs of the World Trade Center when everyone else was running down. They were the people rushing into the clouds of debris after the towers fell, to guide lost civilians to safety. The first responders are the people that were willing to put their own lives on the line in order to save countless others.

While others might disagree, I believe that it takes a certain kind of person to volunteer for a first-responding position. They would have to be the sort of person who, when put in a fight or flight situation, would choose fight every time. During the tragedy of nine-eleven, pandemonium swept the city. It would have been easy for an officer or fireman to slip away into the maelstrom of people and disregard their life-threatening duties in favor of a safer and surer future. Instead, they chose to storm the twin towers. They swept through every tedious, football field-sized floor, saving as many people as they could come into contact with.

Who exactly were the first responders? They were firemen, police, and paramedics, certainly, but even ordinary civilians volunteered to help those around them. People such as Welles Crowther, also known as the "Man in the Red Bandana," made multiple trips into the burning south tower to look for people in need of aid. He was an employee in the World Trade Center – just another human being, but he was anything but ordinary. "Without him, I wouldn't be here. He saved my life," said Ling Young, upon remembering Crowther's heroism. The Man in the Red Bandana saved many others that day, but was killed when the south tower collapsed, trapping him inside. It is people like this that make up the first responders. He put himself in harm's way despite knowing that there was a possibility he wouldn't make it out and he is celebrated because of it. Others are known for similar acts of bravery, helping up fallen New Yorkers in the streets and clearing paths through the chaotic broken building for trapped office-workers. These unofficial first responders were just as important during the "day that will forever live in infamy."

Even after the first tower fell, first responders remained courageous. When the surrounding streets were engulfed by the cloud from the collapsing south tower, officers dashed into the frenzied smoke and building fragments to lead those lost in the bedlam back to the relative safety of the open streets of New York City. For the victims who were able to escape the towers, the suffocating cloud that enveloped them must have seemed like the final judgment. There was no way they'd find their way out of the hopeless darkness before they died of asphyxiation. For those people, the officers were beacons of light – angels sent to save them and drag them out of the sinister depths of the hell they'd stumbled into.

Afterwards, the towers left behind what looked like a post-apocalyptic winter. The first responders persisted in their efforts to save people. They rescued the few survivors that were left, sifting through the wreckage left behind by the terrorist attack.

While politicians worried about what this attack meant for America, the first responders worried about what it would mean for the people that had made it out –their trauma. They worried about what life would be like for the friends and families of those that had been lost. For this, we salute them. We thank them. We thank them for protecting us with everything at their disposals, sparing nothing. We thank them for caring about all of us -- each individual American.

Middle school winner, Varshini Sitarama
He gasped for breath, the color draining out of his face. "Help!!!" He cried hoarsely. It was 2001,on the twin towers in New York. Smoke was accumulating densely in the air. He was running out of time. Thankfully, a firefighter was coming up. "I...can't...breathe..." he whispered with the only energy he had. The firefighter heaved him on his shoulders and tugged him down the stairs grunting with difficulty. Luckily, they were on the lower floors. They were walking slower and slower as the firefighter got tired. And then, they made their way out of the doors. They coughed as the firefighter rushed back in to save more needy lives.

This man was one of the lucky ones. But some were not so lucky. People like this firefighter, and other first response, are the ones who should be thanked because, like the incident above, they helped and sacrificed their own lives.

I want to help make a difference in innocent peoples' lives. I want to make a change, saving the world. I have always had the urge to help people and things. Every month, I donate to charities and feel satisfied, but it wasn't enough. I had to go volunteer. And so I did.

I am a Girl Scout. In Girl Scouts we have a lot of fun, from going camping, to making bracelets. But more importantly, we learn very necessary life skills. We put up our own tents, carry our own bags, and know how to survive in most habitats. And for times like 9-11, we learn first aid and how to use our resources wisely and help people at all times. It might come in handy. It would be touching if everybody reading this would give everybody who lost their lives or got severely injured, a thoughtful moment of silence. Thank you.

I wish I could send a message to every single one the first response men saying a very sincere thank you. Thank you for helping many in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina happened. Thank you for recovering the people from the debris in 2010 when the earthquake in Haiti occurred. Thank you for curing many of the animals when the big oil spill spread in 2010. Thank you for evacuating parts of Japan when the nuclear disaster happened in 2011. And thank you for reducing the fires that are still roaring in areas of California. THANK YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH!!!!!

Elementary school winner, Sophia Krakowsky
"Ways To Help"
There are lots of different ways you could say thank you to first responders. First responders are people who are the first to be at a scene. Firemen, policemen, and some doctors are first responders. You want to help them because they help our country. I am going to name a few ways to help first responders.

You could give a policeman or policewoman a freezing cold drink on a blazing hot day. Police get really hot in their black uniform! Maybe you could make dinner for firemen. I am sure they would love a delicious meal one night! You could surprise your doctor by giving them a thank you card filled with a beautiful picture and awesome things about them. With lots of love, creativity, and care you could send an army troop a special gift. You could send them an extraordinary gift like 1,000 paper cranes, or a nice new gallon of chocolate ice cream.

Some other ideas are inviting a Girl Scout you know to dinner, or giving cookies and lemonade to policemen. You could invite a Girl Scout over to dinner and say thank you for all the things they have done for our country. Maybe you could make homemade cookies and lemonade and share it with all of the police.

There are many different ways to help first responders. I hope everybody will help first responders. Helping first responders is important to me because they helped our country. Remember to do good deeds for people!

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