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Denver East High School's JROTC will share 9/11 ceremony by video this year

JROTC students recorded the annual ceremony on Thursday outside the high school. It will be shared on the school's website Friday morning.

DENVER, Colorado — Denver East High School has a tradition each Sept. 11th.

Students with the school’s JRTOC program host a ceremony each year and the American flag outside the high school is flown at half-staff.

For more than a decade, students have filled the lawn outside the school to watch.

Not in 2020.

“We miss our students an awful lot, we’ve not had them since March,” said Principal John Youngquist. “And so this was a year, with COVID context, that our group of JROTC leaders came together and told their new instructor – this is a tradition we have, we need to keep it going.”

Thursday morning, Denver East’s JROTC students held their Sept. 11th ceremony one day early and filmed it. The finished video will be published on the school’s website Friday morning at 7 a.m., to mark the anniversary.

You can watch it here.

While still honoring traditions, there were a few noticeable differences this year. JROTC members were without their full uniforms. Everyone wore masks. There wasn’t a crowd of students standing nearby to watch.

“Bringing it into this context [of COVID] was a little bit of a challenge for them to figure out,” Youngquist said. “But as student leaders they made it work.”

RELATED: Coronavirus reshapes how Americans commemorate Sept. 11

Nineteen years later, the students are now younger than the anniversary itself. But they understand why the day matters, and they shared what 9/11 means to them.

“September 11th means to me not only the fallen hero’s but the patriots of 9/11 who died that day, and we’re here to respect them,” said Maximiliano Murry, JRTOC Battalion Commander and a senior at Denver East.

“It's the same reason we continue to honor all the other important events in American history -- our founding, where we came from, the wars fought,” added Olivia Kelley, a senior and JROTC member. “No matter how far we continue into the future, it is always imperative that we remember where we came from and why we do the things we do and who we do them for."

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Youngquist said Denver East and the JROTC students have marked Sept. 11 with a ceremony for more than 15 years.

“It’s been a tradition that the students take to heart, it’s been a group of students that honors our history, that honors traditions of our school and our country, and wants to share those to make certain people are aware of what has been happening, what is now, and how we should really appreciate and respect all the places we’ve been over time.”

He said he’s proud that, even in a pandemic, students found a way to keep the tradition going.

“For our students to come here, in a place they haven’t been in a number of months, to make certain they are practiced and ready to represent that tradition that’s been here for over a decade, is really important and powerful,” he said. “I’m proud because it was so important to them to carry this forward for our school and for our community.”

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