Hajja Salesjana July-September 2019

Denver, Colorado, May 9, 2019 When Sara Haynes heard about the shooting at STEM High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, she prayed. A Catholic school teacher in Denver until just recently, she knew some of her former students were now high schoolers at STEM. When Haynes learned that Kendrick Castillo, a former student of hers, was the lone casualty in the May 7 shooting, she cried immediately. Then she reached out to the other students who had been in the same 7th and 8th grade Maths and Religion classes at Notre Dame Catholic School as Castillo. Details of Kendrick’s death were not yet public, but her students guessed Castillo had died trying to protect others, Haynes said. “I went to my students and we were all just sharing together. And I said: ‘Do you guys think that he blocked the shooter?’ And they said: ‘Yeah.’ I mean, it just wasn’t a shock to us” that he would give his life for others, Haynes said. On Wednesday, Kendrick’s father, John Castillo, confirmed to the Denver Post what he had learned from witnesses and the coroner: that Kendrick died while charging the shooter to save his friends. “It doesn’t surprise me,” John Castillo told the Denver Post. “He cared enough about people that he would do something like that, even though it’s against my better judgment.” “I wish he had gone and hid,” Castillo added, “but that’s not his character. His character is about protecting people, helping people.” Kendrick’s friends and fellow students share the same sentiment, Haynes said. “Every time I see a new kid that is in shock or crying, I ask - ‘But are you surprised?’ And ‘No greater love’ Denver Catholics remember Kendrick Castillo, who died in STEM school shooting on 9 May 2019 www.catholicnewsagency.com (CNA) by Mary Rezac 22 H AJJA S ALESJANA Kendrick Castillo and his father, John Castillo. Courtesy: Knights of Columbus #4844 via Facebook