D124 Students Accept 'Rachel's Challenge' To Be Kind

EVERGREEN PARK, IL -- Evergreen Park Elementary School Dist. 124 students accepted Rachel’s Challenge to start a chain reaction of kindness.

Student district-wide in grades K-8 were encouraged -- and ultimately challenged -- to choose kindness over prejudice, bigotry and apathy during in-school exercises last week. While her life was tragically cut short during the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999, Rachel Joy Scott’s shining example of kindness and compassion was not defeated that day.

D124 students and parents listened during an evening assembly on Sept. 14 as Rachel’s uncle, Larry Scott, shared the inspiring true story of her dream being fulfilled over a decade after her death. The acts of kindness Rachel displayed in her short 17 years of life provide a powerful reminder of the little things everyone can do each day to make the world a better place. As Rachel wrote in one of the many essays that her uncle shared, “You never know how far a little kindness can go.”

“Rachel was the first student to die in the Columbine shootings,” Scott said. “Her death devastated our family. She was the middle child of five; she had two sisters and two brothers.”

Scott said that Rachel kept journals to chronicle her thoughts and good deeds. Those journals unveiled that Rachel displayed wisdom beyond a typical 17-year-old girl.

“She knew she was going to die before her time and she knew her life was going to impact millions of people,” Rachel’s uncle said.

.According to Scott, Rachel’s Challenge has been facilitated in over 20,000 schools nationally and internationally combined. It’s a message of hope, inspiration and a call to action to change the world for the better.

“I believe true healing happens when we use our lives to help others to the extent we’ve been hurt,”Scott said. “Today our family is doing well and that’s largely because of our faith and the work we’ve done through Rachel’s Challenge.”

Last week marked the third year for Rachel’s Challenge in D124 schools. Superintendent Dr. Robert Machak said that the program continues to positively impact the school community.

“Our disciplinary numbers go down every year. The challenge is a big part of it,” Machak added. “It’s really about accountability to ourselves and to one another - the idea of setting goals and writing them down, signing your name to the banner, these all speak to the real commitment we are making to try to get better every day.”

The “banner” is a large poster passed around each school that every student and staff member is invited - not required - to sign. By signing it, participants agree to honor the five tenets of Rachel’s Challenge, which include using kind words and doing kind things for others.

Scott delivered a message about the banner during his meeting with D124 parents last week.

“Tell [your children] not to sign it if they don’t mean it,” he said.

Cover Photo: Larry Scott, uncle of slain Columbine High School student, Rachel Scott, challenges Southwest students to choose kindness over meanness. | Claudia Parker for D124

Story submitted by D124 Communications