Rachel's Challenge

[Eagles]

Rachel's Challenge is based on the shootings of Columbine High School, back in April 20th of 1999. The first victim of the shootings was Rachel Joy Scott, a beautiful and loving woman of all people alike. She even became friends with a school bully by trying 7 times to be her friend. The weird part, though, is that Rachel knew she would go to die. She always had a feeling that she was going to die young and make a large impact to the world some day, so she always wrote journals and kept drawings very often. On the day she died, she was the age of 17 and her death was mourned by all of her peers. But after her death, quite a few peculiar events followed. First, a stranger called Rachel's father days after the shooting and had a dream of Rachel's eyes crying 13 tears onto a growing flower, and asked if this had anything to do with Rachel. The man said no, and hung up the phone. Days later, the police came in with Rachel's backpack, and her father wanted to see what his daughter's last drawing was. It was a pair of eyes, crying 13 tears onto a Columbine, where the tears turned to blood. There were 13 people that died on the shooting. Also, later on, Rachel's family found a pair of hands in her dresser that she drew when she was 12 or 13, and it said: "These hands belong to Rachel Joy Scott and will someday touch millions of people's hearts" Also, the back cover of her binder was a poem, I believe, and it said "I will not be labeled as average" and also talked about homicide, the way she died. And it is rumored that one of the bullets made a hole through the binder, as if it were making an exclamation point. And a month before the shooting, Rachel wrote an essay called My ethics, my code of life. She wrote about how she would like the reader to live, and she had a theory that, "if one person can go out of their way to show compassion it will start a chain reacion of the same." Also in the essay, Rachel challenged the reader to try to also start a chain reaction of kindness. After her death, her father read the essay and decided to start an organization that challenges kids in other schools to do these challenges through multimedia presentations, beginning Rachel's Challenge. The 5 challenges that are given through these presentations are:
1. Look for the best in others
2. Dare to dream
3. Choose positive influences
4. Kind words, Acts of kindness
5. Start a chain reaction
My school had a few different challenges, but I think it depends on the type of presentation your school gets. Anyways, I was just wondering if anyone had Rachel's Challenge come to their school, or if they know about it, and what they think about the whole thing. Personally, before the presentation, I wasn't really sure what it was, because nobody really said what was going to happen, and I didn't really know much of the Columbine shooting prior to the presentation, so I was just thinking it wouldn't really have much of an impact. But after the presentation, I wasn't sure what to think about. My mind was uncomfortable. Not because of the message, though, but that such a beautiful and wise woman that was so compassionate and loving, could die so young. :< But for the presentation, I definitely had been effected positively. I do not bully anyone at my school, nor have I really been bullied, but I definitely now have a different outlook on life and treating everyone, even the bullies. Everyone, deep down, is really innocent and something just happened to make them corrupt. But no matter what happens, you have to forgive them for their actions, no matter how bad they were, but more importantly, you must forgive yourself. That is mainly what I learned from it, and I definitely think that all schools should have this presentation, because it really was special for me. What is your opinion?

[DashArmy]

I'm sure at least eighty percent of my school could learn a thing or two about kindness and daring to dream.

Surely it wouldn't hurt to suggest this to my principal..

[PHANTOMxTRAINER]

OHMYGOD! WE HAVE THIS AT MY SCHOOL, A club and everything! This was such a touching story and oh god the footage was horrid. This touched everyone in my school's heart when we have this presentation every year!

[Eagles]

Really? That's cool! I think this is probably one of the only times my school will get to experience Rachel's Challenge. Most of the kids of my school have already gone back to their usual habits, from what I've seen. >_> Something's wrong with them. I honestly think I was one of the only people that actually gained something from it at my school. Oh, well.

[PHANTOMxTRAINER]

Yeah we get this lecture every year

[Shade]

I've followed this challenge long before it became a challenge. From my experience, doing the first four points do tend to bring out the best in others, with the fifth coming as a result of the one you were nice to being nice to someone else.