As Shooting Anniversary Nears, STEM School Highlands Ranch Gives Back To Community
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (CBS4) - It's been almost one year since the shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch took the life of Kendrick Castillo. It is with all of the heroes from that day in mind that the school enters their first annual STEM Shares Week, a time to give back to the community that rallied around them after the tragedy.
"It's also about honoring Kendrick and just the way he was. That's just the person he was. He was just someone who always wanted to give out of himself and just wanted to share and help others," said Mike Pritchard, head of IT at the school.
Pritchard says students will be doing a wide range of projects to help others in the community. Some are making masks to protect people from coronavirus, and others are using 3-D printers to make face shields.
After the shooting, numerous families and businesses stepped up to help students and staff, this is their way of saying thank you. Pritchard says he was touched when his church made meals for him and his wife, now he wants to pay it forward.
"That was such a huge thing to not have to worry about it and just allow ourselves the opportunity to start through this whole healing process. Whatever you can do, it may seem insignificant to you at the moment, but if you're helping out someone and allowing them to take something off their plate that in the long run is just huge," he told CBS4's Dominic Garcia.
To find out more about what STEM School Highlands Ranch is doing and how you can help visit: STEMShares.