Every day Jeffrey Garkow frequents the halls of his alma mater.
Garkow graduated from Columbine High School in 2006 and now works there as a social studies teacher.
He is one of the first people to help reshape how the school honors the 13 lives taken on April 20, 1999.
Prior to 2017, the school wouldn’t hold classes on April 20.
“My experience with April 20 on the professional side of things was that it was just a day off,” Garkow said. “I think that was hard for a lot of people, especially for the staff who were here on April 20, 1999.”
So, in 2016, Garkow said he and other Columbine educators decided to reimagine the day off and launched Day of Service.
“This, I think, is kind of giving us the chance to control the narrative a little more about what Columbine has been through and what we are now,” he said.
The first Day of Service was held in 2017. Garkow said about 400 students volunteered to participate. Last year around 1,500 of the school’s 1,700 students participated in the event.
Students, alumni, staff and community members participate in various projects on the Day of Service including volunteering at nursing homes, spending time at animal shelters, cleaning up parks, working with younger students in the district and cleaning up the campus.
In 2019, Gov. Jared Polis signed a proclamation declaring that Colorado will observe a Day of Service and Recommitment on April 20 each year.
Over the years, more alumni have gotten involved with the day and even planned their own versions of the event at other schools or their places of employment.
Frank DeAngelis, former Columbine principal, said people have participated in the Day of Service from beyond the state — even as far away as Tanzania.
“It’s stuff like that that I think is so important,” he said. “Because here’s the thing. There are kids now that weren’t even born, but there’s certain messages — kindness, saying thank you … How do we make the world a better place?”
Mandy Cooke, a Columbine High School employee and survivor of the shooting, said the Day of Service reflects the school’s current attitude of moving forward with hope.
“We have turned that day into something so positive,” she said. “And that is what I am most proud of — is making sure that our current students know how to be better humans in the world, instead of this awful, tragic thing that happened to us.”
For Garkow, the best aspect of Day of Service is the reactions from students who he says have loved participating in the celebration and carry that impact long after they graduate or leave.
“It’s just a really cool thing to hear students talk about that and how much of an impact that made on them and how much they continue to want to do that now,” Garkow said.
Garkow was in fifth grade at Governor’s Ranch Elementary School on April 20, 1999. All he really remembers is learning the impact that day had on the community.
Sometimes students ask him about the shooting and Garkow said he is as open as possible with them and does his best to answer their questions.
“There is so much misinformation online and on social media or on ReddIt or in news articles about our school and the culture of our school that I think students pick up on,” Garkow said.
Garkow feels protective of his students. He feels they should not have to answer to people who are curious about the school.
“What responsibility do our kids have to own that story when they weren’t even alive during it?” Garkow said. “I think a lot of our kids have a different take on it now because they didn’t experience any of it.”
As a student himself, Garkow didn’t fully comprehend what had happened but did witness how tight-knit the community became.
“I came into the school already as a kid with a lot of pride in seeing what the community did after that and seeing how the community responded,” Garkow said.
He said DeAngelis became the center of that community in many ways.
“I think so much of why we are the community we are today is because of Frank,” Garkow said. “That guy absolutely gave up everything for himself to take care of the community and made sure every kid felt valued and welcomed.”
Garkow said DeAngelis later hired him to teach at the school. He worked with DeAngelis for a few years before DeAngelis retired.
“I absolutely love being in the school,” Garkow said. “There’s 20-plus alumni who I think work in the building and I think that speaks a lot to the strength of the community (and) how much the school means to people.”
Garkow said the community of the school feels almost like a family.
“I think it’s rare to work in a place where so many of the people you were with are just dear friends,” Garkow said. “It’s pretty rare that I feel like I’m coming here just to work.”
Garkow works with a lot of his own former teachers.
“(They) are mentors and friends and people who I hope I can model myself after as an educator just because they meant so much to me when I was a student here,” Garkow said.
Garkow said he hopes more stories about where the school is now are told rather than only reflecting on the past.
“There is so much tragedy but there have also been so many beautiful moments that’ve come out since, that I think it gives a much better picture of who we are now and where we are as a school,” Garkow said.