Rockbridge Report

Columbine story comes to Lexington

By CHRISTINA MERCHANT

Monday morning at Lylburn Downing Middle School a gymnasium full of students gathered to hear the life story of Rachel Scott, the first student killed in the Columbine High School massacre that stunned the nation in April 2009.

Students at Lylburn Downing MIddle School participate in the Rachel's Challenge Program. (CHRISTINA MERCHANT/Rockbridge Report)

“The gymnasium was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop,” said Wendy Morgan, Rockbridge Area Prevention Coalition Facilitator.

The presentation, known as Rachel’s Challenge, was started by Rachel’s father Darrell Scott as a way to educate students on how to create a respectful school environment.

The multimedia presentation included dialogue from the program presenter and an accompanying video and PowerPoint. The video started with a review of the news coverage of the Columbine High School massacre and went on to highlight Rachel’s life, with an emphasis on her belief that little acts of kindness can produce huge results.

After the presentation, students were asked to raise their hands if they agreed to participate in Rachel’s Challenge. Rachel’s Challenge has five important components: look for the best in others, dare to dream and write goals, choose positive influences, use kind words, and start a chain reaction of positivity.
Everyone in the gymnasium raised a hand, agreeing to take on Rachel’s Challenge.

“The decision of what they do with the challenge of acting with kindness and compassion toward others is up to them,” said Veronica Bateman, guidance counselor at Rockbridge County’s Maury River Middle School.

It was Bateman who initially heard about the program and presented the idea to the Rockbridge Area Prevention Coalition as a way to raise awareness of bullying.
A committee of guidance counselors formed to discuss the opportunity. The idea soon spread to Lexington and Buena Vista.

The Rachel's Challenge program uses multimedia as part of its interactive material. (CHRISTINA MERCHANT/Rockbridge Report)

“I think there’s a need at every middle school and high school to do something about bullying and unkind acts among kids,” said Morgan.

After the committee made a presentation to the superintendents of all three school systems, there was unanimous agreement that the program was just what the schools needed, Morgan said.

Buena Vista Superintendent Rebecca Gates said she was “pleased to see that this is a community approach working with the school systems to build a safe environment.”

When the coalition applied for a drug-free communities grant, the hope was that $30,000 of the $625,000 grant would be set aside for Rachel’s Challenge. That became a reality in August when the coalition received the grant. Rachel’s Challenge is among the first programs to be done collaboratively with all three area school systems.

Presentations were scheduled this week at Lylburn Downing, Rockbridge Middle School, Maury River, Parry McCluer Middle School, Rockbridge County High School and Parry McCluer High School.

Six evening sessions, almost identical to the student sessions, will accompany the program as a way to allow parents and community members to see what their children are experiencing.

“I see that our kids can have an impact even though they are so young,” said one mother after viewing the program. “I think kindness is one of the things they can really learn to do.”

In addition to the school presentation, groups of about 30 students at each school were selected to be part of F.O.R. (Friends of Rachel), which will be a part of the school culture that conveys the idea that bullying is not acceptable.

One unique aspect of F.O.R. is that it is a student-driven group.

“Students become the agents of change in their schools, community and state,” said Bateman.