Many schools, like Vassar Central Elementary School in Michigan, will begin the day with a somber moment of silence at the exact time the planes struck the World Trade Center. As they reflect, students will take time to honor the victims and remember the families who lost loved ones.

Other students will spend the day renewing their patriotism. After spending a week paying tribute to American symbols, landmarks, and heroes, students at Presa Elementary in Texas will host a patriotic parade. Each classroom will decorate a float based on the theme of "The American Spirit and Patriotism."

Students at the Julien Hathaway School in California will honor the brave men and women who risked their lives for others on September 11. They will salute heroes in their own neighborhood, writing letters to local firefighters thanking them for keeping their community safe.

In Arlington, Virginia, which is located just minutes from the Pentagon, students at Abingdon Elementary will discuss how the world has changed since September 11.

Just outside of Manhattan, students at P.S. 65 in Queens, New York, will listen to patriotic songs while they join hands to remember the victims and their surviving families.

Whether kids live within minutes of attack sites or hundreds of miles away, they can mark the one-year anniversary by pledging to make a difference, says Ron Adams of Broad Meadows Middle School in Quincy, Massachusetts, which raised more than $3,000 last year for children who lost a parent in the attacks.

"I'm hoping that September 11 isn't a day that we just look back as a historical moment, but a day when we look back, remember, and take action," he says.