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May 16, 2019
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
BOULDERING ROCKS Indoor gyms in the Denver area make the sport more accessible to all P16
STEM SCHOOL SHOOTING
‘COMMON GROUND’
Parent group, school officials agree to work together to improve Arapahoe High School P3 On Mother’s Day, friends of Kendrick Castillo add to a makeshift shrine in his parent’s dining room. Castillo was killed in a shooting at STEM High School on May 7. ALEX DEWIND
‘He was the perfect son’ Kendrick Castillo’s parents want the world to remember their son as someone special BY ALEX DEWIND ADEWIND@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Kendrick Castillo’s parents share photos of his last prom at STEM School Highlands Ranch. Castillo, who people describe as a mentor and friend to all, was killed in a school shooting on May 7. COURTESY PHOTO
On her first Mother’s Day without her only child, Maria Castillo mustered the strength to get out of bed and into the shower, where she wept. In the kitchen, eight teenage boys and girls, friends of her son, cooked her breakfast. They added items to a bench, a makeshift shrine, with a few
of her son’s favorite things: Dr. Seuss’ “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” and Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree.” A pair of lab safety glasses. A pocket-sized, darkgreen Jeep — the same color and model as the one parked in the driveway. “He was the perfect son,” said Maria, a small woman with a gentle smile. “He told me everything. He was my baby.” Four days earlier, Maria and her husband John had lost their 18-yearold son, Kendrick Castillo, the sole fatality in the May 7 school shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch. Eight other students were injured in the attack. The two suspects are in custody. SEE CASTILLO, P6
PROPOSAL IS HISTORY
Owners of the Melting Pot decide to withdraw proposal to build a pair of pergolas P5
THE BOTTOM LINE
“Fires don’t know jurisdictional boundaries.”
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Gov. Jared Polis | Page 4
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INSIDE: VOICES PAGE 12 | LIFE PAGE 16 | CALENDAR PAGE 24 | SPORTS PAGE 26