For Class of 2004 Alumnus Angel Scott and her family, the 10th anniversary of 9/11 brings back more than the memory of the news footage of the inflamed Twin Towers. She lost her mother, Janice Scott, in the attack on the Pentagon. Scott was working in the Office of Management and Budget as a Supervisory Budget Officer when the attack occurred, killing her and 183 others.

“She was my best friend and easy to talk to,” Scott said. “I could talk to her like a sister, about anything from boys to fashion. She always encouraged me to do things I was uncomfortable with.”

Because of her mother, Scott learned to get over her fear of public speaking.

“She took a class and showed me that if she can do it, I can do it,” Scott said.

Scott also learned the importance of being those in need and the issue of her community from her mother. She joined Girl Scouts when she was young, and to this day is involved in projects that help he homeless.

After the tragedy, the AHS community was able to give back to the family of Janice Marie Scott, for she had done so much for her community.

“All of my friends were very supportive and many people brought food for us. There was also an evening of prayer for her,” Angel Scott said.

After graduating high school, Angel went to college at Radford Univeristy where she majored in accounting. Like her mother, her education was interrupted when she moved back to the area and gave birth to her daughter, Angelyce, in 2007. However, she was inspired by her mother’s dedication to her own education and is now attending Strayer University for business management, and Penn Foster Career School for medical encoding.

Following her mother’s footsteps she currently works for Omniplex, a governmental organization.

Each year since the attack, Scott has visited her mother’s grave and thought about the day.

“Now I go with my daughter to and tell her about her Grandma,” Scott said. “My close relationship with my mom definitely influences my relationship with Angelyce.

Since Janice Marie Scott’s death, Abraham Scott has devoted his life to keeping the memories of the Pentagon victims and his wife alive. In 2004, he created the Janice Marie Scholarship Program, a nationally available need-based scholarship to commemorate the kindness and benevolence that she showed to her family and the greater community. Since 2004, over $189,000 have been given to 61 recipients nation wide with amounts ranging from $200 to $2,000.

In addition to serving as the Chairmen of the Board of Directors for the Scholarship Program, Abraham Scott was actively involved in getting the 9/11 intelligent reform and terrorism bill passed through Congress by testifying before the Sub Committee on Terrorism. He also served on the Committee to Construct the Pentagon Memorial, as well as headed the planning committee for the Lummi Indians healing totem poles which were apart of Washington Dc’s 9/11 memorial Groves project. He hopes that his work will continue his wife’s legacy of service to the community.

Janice Scott was born October 12, 1954 in Memphis, Tennesse, but moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she attended elementary school through high school. According to the Pentagon memorial website, even at a young age she demonstrated a willingness to put others first by becoming the caretaker for the daughter of her older sister and her youngest sister while her sister Claudette was stationed overseas in Germany.

After marrying Abraham Scott and giving birth to her daughters Crystal and Angel, Janice Scott and her family moved to the Annandale area.

“She was active in our education and assisted us in pushing through our educational opportunities,” daughter Crystal Scott said.

She was committed to her community as well, and was involved in numerous organizations including the Greater Little Zion Baptist Church in Fairfax, Virginia, and the Association of Government Accountant. She was the Historian, Program Director, and Vice President of the Burke-Fairfax Chapter of Jack and Jill of America Incorporated as well.

“What I always tell people is to cherish you parents because they might not always be here,” Angel Scott said.