MONTVALE — Dave Stevens was born with no legs and was given up at birth for adoption.

But he told students on Friday at the Fieldstone Middle School that that did not stop him from being a star athlete in high school and college, and later an editor and desk manager at ESPN.

"I didn't have anyone to instruct me or teach me. There was no 'Living Life Without Legs for Dummies.' I just had to go out and do these kinds of things just based trial and failure, trial and error," Stevens said.

Stevens was one of 29 speakers who spoke throughout the 3R's Day (Respect, Reflect & Remember) at the middle school. They ranged from Holocaust survivors to recovering drug addicts sharing stories of challenges and obstacles in their lives, and managing to have positive impact on others.

The biennial event, which started in 2007, was organized by faculty and parents with donations from local business and individuals. The school's principal, Gina McCormack, was experiencing her second 3R's Day as head of the school and found the speakers "amazing."

"I think bringing people in, I think we are making character education come alive," McCormack said. "We're giving kids models live the values we are espousing for them."

Allanah Mednard, an eighth grader, was impressed with the speakers she heard and took in some important lessons.

"Be kind to people, just be kind to people because you will never know when you need them for something," Mednard said.

Mary Kay Stratis, a resident of Montvale for about 40 years, told students about the day that changed her life forever — December 21, 1988.

That was the day Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up by a terrorist bomb in the skies over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 259 passengers and 11 people on the ground. The New York-bound jet had passengers from North Jersey.

One of them was her husband, Elia, the father of their three children, then ages 7, 10, and 13.

She recalled how she saw news of Lockerbie and thought of her husband, who'd called her the day before to let her know that he was taking an early flight to get home sooner. Afterward, she and her family would go through harrowing times trying to cope with the situation. However, she was determined that their would not dissolve into chaos.

More:One year after Paramus bus crash, 11-year-old survivor mourns her friend, won't ride a bus

More:Ramapo College Graduation 2019 at the Prudential Center

More:New NJ tax plan: Merge public schools, cut health benefits, change state worker pensions

"My primary goal in trying to keep stability for my children was exactly that. That was a huge void in our lives," Stratis said of her husband's death.

Former Englewood resident Edith Tennenbaum Shapiro was a 6-year-old living with her family in southeastern Poland in 1941 when the Nazis invaded her town. Her Jewish family were considered enemies of the state, but she said they survived with the help of Polish and Ukrainian friends.

Now 84, Shapiro, a psychiatrist, would come with her family to America after the war ended. She said compared to what she lived through in her youth, the world is now actually a a much better place, despite the tumultuous times.

"What's reported in the news is only a small part of what is going on in the world today," Shapiro said. "People who study history tell us that right now the world is in much better shape than it has ever been before."

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com