Rachel's Challenge

Yesterday at my high school we had an assembly called Rachel's Challenge. It was a very "heavy" subject for just before Christmas and I have to compliment our student body because they were so respectful and well-behaved. Of course, that was kind of the subject of the assembly. Rachel was the first student killed at Columbine High School. Before her death she had worked at her school to get students to be kinder to one another and to be more accepting to those who are different from the mainstream. Many of her philosophies and visions for a better world came out after her death from personal accounts related to her parents from students she had helped and from her journals.

Rachel's brother was also at Columbine and came very close to getting shot himself. After the shooting, he had many emotional problems and went off the deep end himself. As he and his father learned more about Rachel's dreams of helping others, they decided to have this become their mission. They have spoken to high schoolers around the world and have been on many major television shows explaining Rachel's goals for helping others to become better people.

Our assembly consisted of a trained person who explained what the family is doing on behalf of Rachel and many video clips of the Columbine shooting, Rachel growing up, news stories of her challenge and the impact she is having all these years after her death. It was very moving and I saw students all over the gym wiping away tears.

Anyway, I decided to accept the challenge and write this blog in the hopes that anyone out there who does not know Rachel's story will be inspired to learn more. Just google Rachel's Challenge and you will finds lots of information. Since I am just starting to blog, I don't yet know about links and such. Brooke, my daughter who is helping me get started, is probably snickering right now.

Click HERE for the link. (Brooke added this in for her Mom, after snickering a little! Hee hee)