CALDWELL, Idaho — A local high school is planning an event to honor the lives lost on 9/11, but first, they’re raising money for a trip to New York City to learn about 9/11.
Elevate Academy is a career technical education charter school that won a grant to organize a 9/11 remembrance event. CJ Watson, the charter administrator at Elevate says one school from each state wins a couple thousand dollars through the grant.
“The students—our first responder students that are firefighting, EMT and criminal justice, will read the names of 55 victims and before that, they’re actually going to research each of their victims to really understand who they were,” Watson said.
Watson says they realized the students weren’t alive yet when 9/11 happened which is why they’re planning a trip for six seniors to visit New York City, hoping they’ll gain a sense of empathy they can share with the other students at Elevate.
“They’re going to spend one full day over by the freedom towers and they’re going to get some personalized tours and stories and really just kind of understand what happened in that moment, what led up to it and what’s happened since,” Watson said.
Victor Chabolla is one of the students going on the trip. He’s in the construction program at Elevate and said he felt like this trip was a calling.
“I think just being there where everything happened will help me understand better and feel what people feel,” Chabolla said.
Elevate Academy has a gofundme to raise money for food travel and lodging for the trip.
