| Written by Ron Stang, Catholic Register Special,
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 Larry Scott, the uncle of Rachel Scott, who was among those gunned down at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., speaks to Windsor area students. The Scott family spreads Rachel’s message of non-violence through the organization Rachel’s Challenge, which was in the Windsor area in mid-February. (Photo by Ron Stang) Over a three-week period the students at dozens of different schools heard from family members of Scott. Three Catholic schools were involved, Holy Name High School in Windsor (Feb. 11), Cardinal Carter High School in Leamington, Ont. (Feb. 13) and St. Thomas of Villanova High School in LaSalle, Ont.
The Scott family members spoke at daytime school assemblies and at nighttime gatherings for parents. They conveyed the message of kindness and compassion that Scott, 17 at the time of her death, embodied through her acts and notebook writings.
The tour, called Rachel’s Challenge, has become famous through appearances on Oprah, Dateline NBC and numerous other television programs. And officials from it, including Rachel’s father Darrell, brother Craig and uncle Larry, have now been invited to speak to thousands of schools across the United States, Canada and increasingly, other countries.
The tour, with its message of non-violence, was also timely, coming in the wake of an incident Feb. 1 in front of Windsor’s F.J. Brennan High School, in which a student was stabbed 14 times by another student.
Larry Scott told a gathering of parents and school officials at St. Thomas of Villanova High School, just outside Windsor, that the goal of the program is to “help sustain a safe and caring school climate.”
Through a powerful slide show and video presentation along with a talk, the audience learned the extraordinary story of Rachel, who was well known at Columbine for reaching out to others — often those shy, lonely or bullied.
But it wasn’t until after Rachel’s death that her family discovered many of her writings. They learned of her fascination and identification with the diarist Anne Frank, who hid from the Nazis during the Second World War but eventually lost her life in a concentration camp. They read Rachel’s personal philosophy of helping others, indeed how to change the world through empathy and good will.
“Rachel challenged her readers about what she calls a chain reaction of kindness and compassion,” said Larry, who also had two children at Columbine that day in April 1999, both of whom survived unharmed.
In fact, he said, Rachel laid out five challenges for people to accept to improve their relationships with others and create a better world: “eliminate prejudice” by looking for the best in others; “dare to dream” by setting goals and keeping a diary to monitor your progress; “choose your influences” because “input” — whether in the forms of people we associate with or the movies and TV programs we watch — “determines output”; use “kind words” because small acts of kindness can have a “huge impact”; and, from the above, “start a chain reaction” with family and friends as each person passes along the sentiments to others.
“If one person goes out of her way to show compassion then it will start a chain reaction of the same,” he said.
Larry added that Rachel, a Christian, also implored herself and others to “not give up on God. Our spiritual means need to be nurtured to.”
Besides Larry — who has made Rachel’s Challenge his full-time job — there is Rachel’s brother Craig. He also was at Columbine that day but escaped being shot after two of his library table mates were instantly killed by the gunmen, fellow students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. He spoke at various schools as part of the Windsor-Essex tour.
(Other members of the general speaking tour include Rachel’s farther Darrell — who founded Rachel’s Challenge — and Dana Scott, Rachel’s older sister. There are 18 speakers altogether.)
Kevin Hamlin, vice principal of Cardinal Carter High School in Leamington, who brought Rachel’s Challenge to the area after hearing it in Ottawa, said that besides the powerful nature of the talk (which has a secular version), Rachel’s Challenge is a “perfect fit for us because it’s rooted in faith and it’s a phenomenal opportunity for us to bring a presentation in that really creates a sustaining change in our school climate.”
(Stang is a freelance writer in Windsor, Ont.)
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