Denver Jewish Day School

📣📣📣 This week’s Shabbat Shout Out goes to rising senior Cooper Coughlan, who has had a pretty remarkable week.

In the span of just a few days, Cooper was elected Student Council President and named the recipient of the Bryan M. Hay Community Service (Chesed) Award.

If you know Cooper, this probably doesn’t come as a surprise.

When he’s not editing The Paw, helping put together the yearbook, dancing up a storm at prom, vacuuming after Shabbaton, organizing impromptu ice bucket challenges at school BBQs, or finding some other way to improve the Upper Division experience, Cooper is usually in the middle of making something happen.

The Chesed Award recognizes an 11th-grade student who has demonstrated a meaningful commitment to acts of loving kindness and service both within the school and throughout the broader community. It honors a student whose actions reflect the Jewish value of chesed through sustained service, leadership, and care for others.

What makes this week especially meaningful is that both honors—Student Council President and the Chesed Award—are rooted in something similar: showing up, pitching in, leading by example, and earning the trust and respect of your community.

Cooper Coughlan is a busy teenager. Fortunately for the rest of us, he tends to channel that energy into making DJDS stronger, kinder, and a little more fun.

Mazel tov, Cooper.

Shabbat Shalom.

Throwback Thursday feels especially fitting for this one. 🎓🐯🐅

This slideshow, created by our very own Esti Shapiro (and linked below) of our incredible senior class gives you a little taste of *how it started*—one baby picture at a time.

They were awfully cute. Clearly going places, even then.

But what really has us bursting with Tiger pride is *how it’s going.*

And now? The **Class of 2026**—the largest graduating class in DJDS history—is officially heading off to an incredible range of colleges, programs, and next steps around the world.

Even more impressively: **100% of our seniors were accepted to and are attending one of their top-choice schools.**

This year’s graduating class will be attending:

Binghamton University
Boston University
Brown University
Columbia University
Colorado State University
Elon University
Fort Lewis College
Indiana University
Johns Hopkins University
Princeton University
Tiferet & Stern College
United States Air Force Academy
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Colorado Denver
University of Maryland
Virginia Wesleyan University
Yeshiva University & Midreshet Moriah

Some are staying close to home. Some are heading across the country. Some are heading to Israel and the IDF. All of them are taking pieces of this community with them.

Mazel tov again to the Class of 2026. We cannot wait to see what comes next.



https://youtu.be/llpcBruW_Vk

We only have two Wild Wednesdays left of the school year and they may be the last but certainly not least!

On any given day, we love partnering with organizations that value farming, animals, muddy boots, and hands-on learning as much as we do—so last week, we made a trip to the Boulder JCC Milk & Honey Farm. It was pretty much every students’ dream field trip, and it has the most perfect name for a community partner to DJDS.

Our 4th & 5th grade Farmette/Makers elective students have been exploring what makes a working farm actually work—and what they can build, create, and contribute to our own DJDS Farmette.

So naturally, they arrived in Boulder well-prepared with questions.

Students toured the farm, tasting greens, marveling at the dome greenhouse (complete with a koi pond helping regulate humidity levels), testing their knowledge about water efficiency in row crops, and—perhaps most importantly—at least from an entertainment perspective, milking goats.

While some students had the chance to milk our own Layla earlier this year, for many this was their first opportunity to try it. Everyone gave it a shot, and let’s just say there was a lot of fascination over how something so simple can turn into cheese, food, and products people can actually use and sell.

This group of young farmers even returned to DJDS with a gallon of fresh goat milk for cheese making during this week’s final class.

Never your average Wednesday, and certainly not your average classroom, but always WILD here at the DJDS farmette!

On this Tiger Tuesday, we’re kicking off the week of celebrating our seniors and the Class of 2026—the LARGEST graduating class in DJDS history. 🎓🐯

In case you missed it, here's the link for the livestream of the full graduation ceremony for the class of 2026!

https://www.youtube.com/live/8NAmz2zU6F8?si=6BvzDe3ZJQ8NWvD8

As with any large scale event, we had a few snafus (all good practice as we consider even larger classes in years to come!)

Yes, it might have run a little long - and we definitely got hungry (students, staff, and guests alike!) but the personal touch can't be beat.

Yes, there may have been moments a few hours beforehand where some of us wondered if we were going to pull it off (after all, any event with 600 guests has a lot of moving parts!)

But somehow, with a little luck and a lot of hard work, it came together beautifully.

Meaningful speeches, proud families, emotional moments, laughter, reflections, and a whole lot of Tiger pride.

Mazel tov again to the Class of 2026. Once a Tiger, always a Tiger.

This weekend's early Shabbat Shout Out—doubling as a Shavuot Shout Out—celebrates Dalia Arch-Andorsky, who was selected for the highly prestigious Bronfman Fellowship, an extraordinary honor recognizing intellectually curious Jewish teen leaders from across North America. 📚✡️

It feels especially fitting as we head into Shavuot this evening—a holiday centered around learning, questioning, interpretation, and deep engagement with Jewish thought.

We had a chance to connect with Dalia about this honor, and what excites her most about the fellowship is “the ideas and learning it will give me access to” and the chance to be “part of a community that challenges and expands my Jewish beliefs.”

Dalia also shared that she’s especially drawn to engaging with people who may hold different viewpoints or Jewish practices, but who share “a similar desire to gain a more complete understanding of Judaism and of the world around them.”

She hopes the experience will deepen her understanding of the American Jewish experience and help her explore “the similarities, differences, and challenges that exist for Jews in the modern world.”

And perhaps most meaningfully, Dalia hopes to bring that spirit back to DJDS—sharing “a renewed spirit of pluralism” and helping create “productive discussions among students with differing viewpoints or Jewish practices.”

A beautiful reflection of what Jewish learning can and should be.

Mazel tov, Dalia, we can't wait to hear about this incredible experience, and Chag Sameach to our entire community!

On this Tiger Tuesday, we’re congratulating our Middle School Baseball Tigers, who wrapped up a stellar season last week. ⚾️🐅

This year’s 6th–8th grade group accomplished something even bigger than baseball this season: they played like a team from day one, which in middle school, is not always a given! From encouraging each other on the field to sharing snacks in the dugout, they brought enthusiasm, flexibility, and sportsmanship to every game.

They also got to partake in the full Colorado spring sports experience: rainouts, snow day reschedules, and weather forecasts that changed every 11 minutes, so we would be remiss if we did not extend a HUGE thank all of our baseball families for going with the flow, managing carpools, uniforms, and gear, and still showing up to cheer us on!

Mazel Tov to all of our players and to our awesome and dedicated coaches on a season full of growth, teamwork, and some pretty exciting baseball!

🖼️ It’s Mischpacha Monday, and the whole mishpacha—parents, grandparents, and friends—were in for a treat when they joined us last week for the Lower Division Art Walk to celebrate the artistic accomplishments of our talented student artists.

🎨 Under the direction of art teacher extraordinaire Rose Lucas, students spent the year exploring everything from impressionism and surrealism to sewing, contemporary pop art, and everything in between. The lobby and hallways were transformed into colorful galleries showcasing creativity, imagination, and a lot of hard work.

❤️ 🖤 Students were absolutely thrilled to show off their work to our special guests, and it was so much fun watching these young artists stand proudly beside their creations, explaining their inspiration, process, and favorite details. The Art Walk is one of the many ways we love sharing our students’ achievements with the entire DJDS community.

This week’s Shabbat Shout Out (one that should be shouted from the mountain tops!) goes to the people who keep DJDS running—our teachers, administrators, facilities and operations team, institutional advancement team, learning support specialists, counselors, coaches, advisors, and everyone in between.

From stop sign duty to teaching the ABCs and aleph-bet…
From coaching high school athletics to teaching AP classes…
From organizing faculty appreciation breakfasts to staying late for clubs, performances, games, rehearsals, and student events…

This place runs on an enormous amount of care, flexibility, patience, humor, creativity, and caffeine.

At any given moment, someone on this campus is solving a problem no one else even knew existed, stepping in to help a student, moving furniture, rewriting a lesson plan, fixing technology, answering emails, finding lost sweatshirts, or cheering someone on.

And through all of it, our students feel known, supported, challenged, and cared for.

Earlier this week at our Staff Appreciation Breakfast, we also had the privilege of honoring 16 faculty and staff members celebrating milestone anniversaries at DJDS:

⭐ 5 Years
Mary Cruz De La Riva
Alix Kivlin
Asha Merkes
Natalie Mohan
Ben Huston
Eden Jackman
Jennifer Margolis
Kirya Jultak
Melanie Salniker

⭐ 10 Years
Charlene Irani
Rebekah Kochavi
Heidi Markenson
Danielle Shwartz
Megan Zitron

⭐ 25 Years
Rufina Feld

⭐ 36 Years
Jerry Rotenberg

These educators and staff members represent generations of commitment, mentorship, leadership, and care for this community.

And while we’re at it, we also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our incredible PTO and parent volunteers, who helped make Teacher Appreciation Week feel so special. The breakfasts, treats, decorations, notes, and thoughtful touches did not go unnoticed.

To everyone who helps make DJDS what it is every single day: thank you. We see you—and the truth is, there’s never really a way to thank you all enough for everything you do!

Shabbat Shalom.

You probably know about latkes—those beloved potato pancakes that make a strong appearance every Chanukkah.

But here at DJDS, we’re a little more year-round with our pancake enthusiasm --
On Thursdays in the Upper Division, it’s buttermilk pancakes fresh off the griddle—a tradition that has become equal parts breakfast, community gathering, and unofficial start to the day.

For today’s Throwback Thursday, we’re going back to the very first pancake breakfast in 2013.

The phones weren’t as sharp. The cameras definitely weren’t as sharp. But if you look closely, you might just recognize some alumni who helped start what became one of the most beloved traditions at DJDS.

Proof that lasting traditions here at Denver JDS really do stack up. 🥞😝

Wild things are (almost always!) happening at the Farmette. 🐱🌱

The greenhouse is thriving. The kittens are growing. And perhaps most shocking of all…children are voluntarily eating vegetables.

Students have been harvesting kale, chard, and spinach, then turning those ingredients into mini meals in our outdoor dome classroom—washing, chopping, seasoning, sautéing, and somehow enthusiastically eating sautéed greens with rice, eggs, and pasta.

Yes, really.

Between the baby kittens, the greenhouse harvests, and the hands-on cooking, it’s the kind of learning experience that’s hard to replicate anywhere else.

Farm magic is 100 percent real. Don't believe us? Be on the lookout for more fun opportunities on the farmette coming this June!

On this Tiger Tuesday, we’re aiming the spotlight at our Girls Varsity Soccer team—and to coaches Nick and Kirya—for building a team that somehow manages to be competitive, supportive, and genuinely fun to watch all at once. 🐯⚽️

Earlier this week, we were especially proud to celebrate our three seniors at halftime. Over the years, they’ve helped shape the culture of this team through leadership, resilience, teamwork, and the ability to keep showing up for each other (even when coach makes them do extra laps!)

This group truly lives our values on and off the field. They compete hard, lead thoughtfully, support one another fully, and represent DJDS with the kind of spirit that makes people want to root for them.

A big mazel tov to our seniors, coaches, and entire team for a season full of growth, grit, and a lot of Tiger pride.