Creating a Chain Reaction: Freshman Students Learn Kindness Through Rachel’s Challenge

Named in honor of Rachel Joy Scott, the first person killed in the Columbine shooting of 1999, Rachel’s Challenge began after the Scott family realized how the transformational effect of their daughter’s story created a chain reaction of kindness and compassion.

On the back of her dresser, Rachel Joy Scott traced the outline of her hands and wrote:

“These hands belong to Rachel Joy Scott and will someday touch millions of people’s hearts.”

As of today, her hands and her life have done just that, including the freshman students at Frenship ISD.

Former Texas Tech quarterback Cody Hodges visited the FHS Ninth Grade Center Monday (Nov. 13) to speak to students and the Frenship community about Rachel’s Challenge, an organization that was created after the Scott family realized the transformational effect their daughter’s life had on many people with her simple acts of kindness and compassion.

Rachel was the first person killed in the Columbine shooting on April 20, 1999, and the organization began to help create a school climate less susceptible to harassment, bullying and violence, and promote a positive climate and culture in school.

As Hodges spoke to the freshman class, tears from the students could be heard in the silent gymnasium.

“You never know what your classmates could be going through,” Hodges said. “I can almost bet you that everyone here has something going on that no one knows about. This is why it’s so important to treat others with kindness, because you never know how it might help someone.”

Rachel’s Challenge goes beyond an assembly though as the organization provides students with five challenges to help promote a positive culture within their schools:

  1. Look for the best in others
  2. Dream big
  3. Choose positive influences
  4. Speak with kindness
  5. Start your own chain reaction

These challenges were all taken from Rachel’s writings, including an essay she wrote a few weeks before she was killed, entitled “My Ethics, My Codes of Life.”

“My definition of compassion is forgiving, loving, helping, leading, and showing mercy for others,” she wrote. “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 girl who would not be labeled as average, went out of her to make sure that those who were often overlooked were shown with the utmost respect and appreciation. She did this by looking beyond the surface and finding the unique things about each person that made them special.

This is what Hodges encouraged the freshman class to do with Rachel’s five challenges.

To ensure the challenges are implemented at the FHS Ninth Grade Center, Hodges hosted a training for the Friends of Rachel (FOR) program.

The FOR program is designed to help a select group of students create a club within the school whose mission is to put into practice what they learned in the assembly and foster a permanent culture of kindness and compassion on the campus.

“I hope that by bringing Rachel’s Challenge to the Frenship community will charge every student to help promote a campus that is free from harassment and bullying,” said Heather Wainscott, assistant principal at the FHS Ninth Grade Center. “Everyone can listen and benefit from hearing Rachel’s personal story of creating a chain reaction of kindness and compassion throughout the Ninth Grade Center and the Lubbock-Wolfforth community.”