Our community will never forget the act of heroism on May 7, 2019, when STEM School Highlands Ranch senior Kendrick Castillo sacrificed his own life to save others during a shooting at the public charter school.
On Monday, Feb. 26, members of the Kendrick Castillo Memorial Fund and Oversight Committee, including John Castillo, the Board of Douglas County Commissioners, and the Highlands Ranch Metro District, gathered in Civic Green Park in Highlands Ranch to formally designate the site of the Kendrick Castillo Memorial and launch a fundraising campaign to underwrite construction. The Highlands Ranch Metro District dedicated the location within Civic Green Park for the Memorial.
“We visit our son’s gravesite every day, and we know there’s a community that shares our heartache and our love for Kendrick,” said John Castillo. “Maria and I are very grateful the community will have a place to come and remember our son.”
You can honor Kendrick by donating to the Memorial via the Douglas County Community Foundation, the goal for which is $30,000 – 100% of donations totaling this amount will fund construction of the Memorial. Visit dccf.org/Kendrick-Castillo-fund.html.
“I remember that we all prayed that day that nothing would happen,” said Douglas County Commissioner Lora Thomas. “Lives were saved that day because of a hero, because of Kendrick Castillo.”
“Today is about one thing. It’s about Kendrick Castillo and the heroism he represents,” said Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon. “He didn’t run away, he ran into, the conflict. That’s the Kendrick Castillo way we can all strive for.”
“From the library windows nearby, we know Kendrick and his friends could see this spot as they discussed robotics or worked on homework,” said Andy Jones, Highlands Ranch Metro District Board Director, a member of the Douglas County Community Foundation Board, and a member of the Kendrick Castillo Memorial Oversight Committee. “It’s important we show Kendrick’s act of bravery will always be remembered by a grateful community.”
“It’s also fitting that Kendrick’s memorial will be near the Highlands Ranch Veterans Monument that is here at Civic Green Park,” said Commissioner George Teal. “These are the heroes among us who answer the call. That’s what we’re memorializing here today.”
In addition to the Board of Douglas County Commissioners’ immediate actions in response to the school shooting, the Kendrick Castillo Memorial Fund and Oversight Committee was formed in May 2022 to explore ways in which to memorialize Kendrick in his hometown.
The Committee – family and friends of Kendrick, Douglas County, the Douglas County School District, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas County Library Board, Highlands Ranch Metropolitan District, and Seven Stones Cemetery – birthed several ideas to memorialize Kendrick and his sacrifice.
Recommendations from the committee include: the Kendrick Castillo Memorial at Civic Green Park in Highlands Ranch; renaming Lucent Boulevard in his honor, which will be considered through a required public process; and establishing a scholarship fund. The Douglas County School District named a robotics lab after Kendrick, located in the District’s Legacy Campus, this too is an outcome of the Committee.
Contributions beyond the first $30,000 will be used to pursue the renaming of Lucent Boulevard, to include the required public process that will begin this year; and the scholarship fund.