Rachel Scott was the first person killed in Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Her brother, Craig, was in the library that day and lost two close friends and narrowly escaped death himself. A few weeks after the tragedy Darrell Scott, Rachel's and Craig's father, spoke to a Congress House Judiciary Committee regarding issues of school violence. Shortly afterwards he founded "Rachel's Challenge," a non-violence school program. Holley Middle School and High School students took part in this program, which included the first-hand account of Columbine survivor Nicole Nolan, who was Craig Scott's classmate, along with powerful audio/video footage. "People will never know how far a little kindness can go," wrote Rachel Scott in one of the journals she kept. She reached out to people with kindness and had her own set of principles by which she lived. Following the assemblies, Nolan held a 45-minute training session with both adult and student leaders. The purpose of this interactive session is to provide tools for sustaining the momentum created by the assembly. In the evening, Nolan conducted a session with parents and community leaders. In the training session, Nolan challenged students to reach out to other students and invite them to join the Friends of Rachel Club creating a chain reaction of kindness throughout the school. She suggested that the club create a new student welcoming committee where club members show new students around school their first day and invite the newcomers to sit with them at that dreaded first day of lunch. Nolan also encouraged students and staff to find ways to honor certain groups, such as cafeteria staff or sports teams, for a week to make them feel special. June 3, 2007 |
