High school freshman builds military monument to honor alumni who have served
One student at South Fayette High School has built a new monument that honors the school's alumni who have served our country.
By Chilekasi Adele
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Pennsylvania (KDKA) — As kids in our area head back to school, there’s one student at South Fayette High School who has been putting in a lot of work and hours before that.
It’s all for a new monument that honors the school’s alumni who have served our country.
“It was just a miraculous journey,” South Fayette ninth grader Jasim Khilji said.
He wanted to make a beneficial Eagle project. So he reached out to the South Fayette School District.
“They got back to him, and really gave him a blank canvas,” Naz Habib Khilji, Jasim’s mother, said.
After some planning, came putting it together. The Khiljis, with some help, put lights, gravel, and edging to make an outsider circle.
Jasim’s mom said a professional mason gave up multiple weekends of his time and volunteered, helping Jasim lay bricks.
Jasim said he finished off the monument with an eagle topper he found on Amazon.
It was not cheap, but multiple members of the community helped with donations and services.
“A lot of big donations like $100, $200,” Jasim Khilji said.
There are emblems for the military branches, and they mean a lot to the Khiljis.
“My family on my mom’s side, my aunt and my uncle, they both served in the military,” Jasim said.
The monument is not quite done yet. There is still a donated $4,000 granite bench that’s supposed to go at the spot of the monument.
Jasim said that it should take about a month to get there.
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