Colorado Politics

Denver brewery honors slain teen Kendrick Castillo from May school shooting

Strange Craft Beer Company has unveiled a new beer named Kendrick’s Ale after 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo, who a gunman murdered at the STEM School Highlands Ranch on May 7.

9News reported that the beer combines honey, orange peels, banana and cloves. Castillo was passionate about STEM’s robotics club, and half of the proceeds will go to the organization.

“Holy Moley! What a great turn out last night was for #KendricksAle release,” the company posted on Nov. 16 on its Facebook page. “Get a pint or a crowler while you can, we poured through almost half of what we brewed last night. Remember to reach out, talk, connect … make your circle bigger!”

Previously, a Centennial brewery began selling pint glasses imprinted with Castillo’s name, with sales also benefiting the school’s robotics club. The owner of that business used to be Castillo’s teacher.

After the shooting, Douglas County commissioners approved $13 million for enhancing school security and hiring school resource officers. They also appropriated a little over $331,000 for mental health programming aimed at teenagers.

Last week, the attorney general’s office released the latest statistics for Safe2Tell, the anonymous school safety tip program through which anyone can report threats of suicide, bullying or impending danger to schools. The program began after the Columbine High School shooting, in which other students knew about the killers’ plan, but adhered to a “code of silence” and avoided reporting it.

The 2019-2020 school year had a 36% increase in tips over the previous year. In October, the tips increased 15% over the prior year’s. In this school year alone, Safe2Tell received 650 duplicate tips, meaning threats that generated multiple reports.

The attorney general’s office views duplicate tips as “an indicator of a healthy reporting culture within a community.”

This undated photo provided by Rachel Short shows Kendrick Castillo, who was killed during a shooting at the STEM School Highlands Ranch on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, in Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Rachel Short via AP)
Rachel Short
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