Denver Jewish Day School Commemorates 25th Anniversary of 9/11 with Capitol and CELL Field Trip

On Wednesday, Sept. 9, Denver Jewish Day School had its first high school field trip to the Counterterrorism Educational Learning Lab and the Colorado Capitol to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. 

Upper division director of enrichment, Dr. Jeremy Golubcow-Teglasi, and Principal Danielle Sapiens organized most of the field trip. This school year's theme is civic education, which is why the school chose the CELL museum for this trip. Jewish philanthropist Larry Mizel helped found the CELL in 2008 as a learning resource to educate people about terrorism and how to defend against it. Golubcow-Teglasi visited the museum over the summer and said he believed it would be a valuable field trip for the high school students. “Once I was there, it did seem to me like an extraordinary community resource,” he said. 

The field trip was split up into two groups. The ninth and 10th grades began at the Colorado State Capitol Building for a tour, and the 11th and 12th grades began at the CELL for a guided tour with the museum staff. After a communal lunch at City Park, the groups swapped locations. 

At the Capitol, classes got the opportunity to explore the building, as well as journeying up to the top, inside the golden dome. “It was a beautiful view, and a great experience,” said Lily Weiner, an 11th grader who went on the trip. 

The CELL began with a video from a survivor of 9/11, and was followed by the museum’s brief explanation of what happened that day. The majority of the museum was focused on counterterrorism, current and past terrorist groups, and what the motives of terrorism are. 

“I liked the idea of going out of school and learning about terrorism, but I expected more about 9/11 and less so about terrorism itself,” said Hannah Keltzky, a freshman at DJDS who went on the field trip. 

While the high school students were at the CELL and the Capitol, the middle school students had the opportunity to hear from faculty members who experienced 9/11, including Dr. Heidi Markenson, Sarah Marmor, Mark Raphaely, and Olga Kleptov. 

The field trip was a successful one, and the school hopes to send students on more large excursions such as this one.

 “What I’m hoping for is through Tiger Trails [the school’s field trip program] to take a group who want to go meet with legislators, hear committees, and watch debates on the floor,” Golubcow-Teglasi said.