On April 20, 1999, Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado experienced one of the worst school shootings to date. Twelves students and one teacher were killed and 20 others were wounded. The first student to die was Rachel Joy Scott.
The Scott family could not let their daughter's life end with her death.
Rachel Scott kept several journals and her written words are helping millions of people all over the world to to replace acts of violence with acts of kindness.
This is called "Rachel’s Challenge."
"Rachel’s Challenge" is a anti-bullying and violence incentive. More than two million students annually attend Rachel's Challenge events and have the opportunity to accept the challenges presented, which are modeled after Rachel’s life and writings.
Last week, several of Humboldt County's schools took part in Rachel’s Challenge. Each school had an assembly with a slide show of Rachel’s life. The rural schools in Kings River, McDermitt and Paradise Valley were brought to the Boys and Girls Club to participate.
The students were asked as they listened to the presentation to take the challenge: to eliminate prejudice and never give up.
Students watched quietly in awe as a slide show of the massacre was shown.
The goal is for people to realize the power of the words they speak. As Rachel Scott said, "Compassion is the greatest form of love humans have to offer. I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go."
The students were not yet born when this tragedy occurred and had little knowledge of the shooting at all. Students cried and spoke in whispers as they looked on.
The community was also invited to take part in the challenge. For more information please visit RachelChallenge.org
