By Jon Johnson
THATCHER – Join us for the Tower Challenge at EAC, where we climb stadium bleachers to honor the heroic first responders who gave their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, in a powerful tribute to their courage and sacrifice. Sign up here to participate.
There were 110 floors and 2,071 steps in the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers. The 2025 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb is a way to honor and remember the FDNY firefighters and other first responders who selflessly gave their lives so that others might live on 9-11-2001. Participants will be divided into groups. Each group pays tribute to an FDNY firefighter by climbing the equivalent of the 110 stories of the World Trade Center. Your individual tribute not only remembers the sacrifice of an FDNY brother but also symbolically completes their heroic journey to save others.
Thatcher Middle School Dean of Students Leah Meehl has led the annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at EAC to honor first responders and all who lost their lives on that fateful day ever since her students couldn’t participate in a similar event held at the UofA due to their age. Back then, she served as a P.E. teacher, and the tie-in was the physical fitness of the event.
“You have to be 16 to do it – my P.E. students were not 16, so I had to get a little bit creative and we did it during the school day,” Meehl said.
After the first year, Meehl’s mother, who was a teacher in the Pima School District, joined and would bring Pima students to the event.
“Then one year it was on a Friday, and neither of us could require students to be there on a Friday, so we evolved into this community event. Every year it just gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger. It’s amazing.”
Everyone who takes part in the event receives a lanyard with a picture of a fallen first responder from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. Photos of the fallen also adorn the stadium, and those participating can view them during the event.
“I have people that go to the 9/11 museum in New York and they’ll come back and they’ll tell me, ‘I took my lanyard and I found my guy – I found his name on the wall’ (and) it makes me cry,” Meehl said. “It’s an amazing experience. The whole thing.”
Local area first responders perform the climb, completing 30 laps of the stadium in full firefighter turnout gear and police attire. The 30 laps are about equivalent to the 110 stories, or 2,200 steps, of the World Trade Center building. Out of the 2,983 victims killed in the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001, 343 were New York Fire Department members and 72 were law enforcement members. Show your patriotism by signing up and participating in the event.
In addition to the local fire departments, first responders include Lifeline Ambulance, the GCSO, PPD, TPD, SPD, and other organizations, such as local schools, sports teams, and more.
“Every year it just pulls at your heartstrings,” Meehl said at last year’s event. “It’s super amazing . . . Everybody coming. We’ll never forget; we’ll always remember.”
