Student Robotics Teams Pay Tribute At Service For Kendrick Castillo

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (CBS4) - As school shooting victim Kendrick Castillo's casket was escorted into Cherry Hills Community Church on Wednesday, robotics teams from schools across Colorado lined the entrance. Each student stood in team T-shirts alongside their robots.

"There's definitely a community with all the different robotics teams. Everyone gets along really well at the competitions. Everyone's having a great time so we all just feel that connection," said Mason Snyder, a senior on the George Washington High School robotics team.

Castillo loved robotics. He was a senior on the FIRST Robotics Competition Team 4418, otherwise known as Team Impulse.

When the national nonprofit FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) heard about Kendrick's heroism, it reached out to Colorado robotics teams asking for support.

"We were all for it. They said bring a robot. We just want to show that we support them and so that's what we decided to do," said Snyder.

There were dozens of robots on display outside the church. While many of the students only knew of Kendrick through competition, that didn't stop them from making the trip to pay tribute.

"FIRST is a family so it's because we're a part of FIRST and because Kendrick was a part of FIRST and we've got to support our family," said Andrew Merz with the Coronado High School robotics team.

If not for the distance and the separate schools, it's likely many of Kendrick's competitors would be his closest friends.

"I think so. I think he sounds like a great guy, a compassionate kid who just really enjoyed his robotics team," said Snyder.

Kendrick was one of the best in the local robotics scene. During his celebration of life, a teacher from the STEM school announced that Kendrick had won the engineering department award. It's an award that goes to a student who not only puts in the hard work but goes the extra mile for his classmates.