WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, students, educators and local first responders gathered Friday morning at Midway High School for a student-led Unity Day ceremony focused on remembrance, service and national unity.

Organized by Midway High School's Marine Corps Junior ROTC unit, the ceremony brought the campus community together in the school's visitor parking lot under the banner: Unite.

Rather than centering solely on history that today's high school students did not live through, organizers used the milestone anniversary to bridge past sacrifice with present-day action."Today, the first priority is to remember those we've lost during 9/11," said Damon Fish, commanding officer of the Midway JROTC Company.