When it comes to 9/11, "Never forget" is the unofficial motto of Commack High School

It was in the days and weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, while our memories of what happened were at their freshest and most painful, that we first made the solemn promise to "never forget."

A Long Island high school is on a mission to keep that promise by passing memories from one generation to another.

Like so many towns across the Tri-State Area, the hamlet of Commack in Suffolk County has for the last quarter-century honored the memory of those who died on or after 9/11.

"I felt in my heart that I had to do something, and that was to never forget," said Debbie Virga, district clerk for the Commack School District.

The memorial at Commack High School displays a piece of World Trade Center steel, part of what was a stairwell support beam, recovered at Ground Zero. Commack became the first school district to receive such an artifact when it was sent to the district by the Port Authority nine years later.

That was the same year junior Alexis Cherney was born.

Cherney said she feels lucky to go to school in a district that prioritizes the preservation of a memory she and her classmates don't have.

"Our English teachers will have us read articles from that day. Our history teachers will tell us all about it and where they were," Cherney said.

"What we learned about that day and just having this memorial just gives us knowledge every day when we walk by about what happened. I think every school district should teach that," recent Commack High graduate Daniel McDonough said.

"We try to set the stage for them," teacher Chris Denton added.

The events of 9/11 and their aftermath are part of Denton's curriculum, a responsibility that he says becomes more important each year as his students have fewer and fewer direct connections to 9/11 victims.

"When we did this 20 years ago, half the class knew someone," Denton said. "Not having that direct contact with what happened 25 years ago, the students now need to have that information."

"It helps the kids whose parents may not want to talk about it. They get an understanding of it. I think that's really important. We say 'never forget,' even though we don't remember. We should still remember what happened, and there's people still suffering to this day," Cherney added.

Eventually, history is taught from history books, but at Commack High School, for now, it's taught from memory.

On this Sept. 11, the high school will feature an aerial tribute with 500 drones above its football field, and in October, the school will host the Tunnel to Towers Mobile Museum.