By Jason Emerson

Editor

Tears, hugs, smiles and comments about the amazing and inspiring story of one teen girl’s philosophy of spreading kindness and compassion filled the Cazenovia High School auditorium last week as both students and parents learned about the global program called Rachel’s Challenge that came to Cazenovia.

“It’s powerful; the kids just keep using that word: ‘Powerful,’” said CHS Principal Eric Knuth, who spearheaded the drive to bring the Rachel’s Challenge program to Cazenovia.

Rachel’s Challenge, based on the life and writings of Rachel Joy Scott, the first person killed in the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999, seeks to spread a pro-kindness, anti-violence message that encourages people to start “chain reactions of kindness and compassion” in their lives. Scott, a prolific writer, was an advocate of reaching out to social outsiders, showing them encouragement and kindness and bringing them in to the community.

Rachel’s Challenge has touched 22 million people and is the foundation for creating programs that promote a positive climate in K-12 schools, according to the organization. The group’s mission is to make schools safer, more connected places where bullying and violence are replaced with kindness and respect; and where learning and teaching are awakened to their fullest.

Last week’s programs in Cazenovia included three presentations to groups of middle and high school students during the school day, and an evening presentation for parents and families. The Rachel’s Challenge representative who spoke at all four programs, Nate Rees, also did a workshop for students interested in forming Friends of Rachel Clubs that help sustain the lessons of kindness and compassion learned through the program and spread them throughout the school and the community.

During the presentations, Rees told Rachel’s story, explained her philosophy of kindness and sent every group away with five challenges to take on. The challenges differed slightly for each group, but some of them included:

• Dream big and believe in yourself.
• Be kind to others and treat them as you would want them to treat you.
• Choose positive influences and reach out to people.
• Speak with kindness, not cruelty.
• Show appreciation to those you love – don’t just feel it, show it. “It could be something as simple as a thank you note,” Rees said.

After each presentation, Rees asked anyone interested in accepting Rachel’s Challenge to practice kindness and compassion to sign the banner at the front of the auditorium. By the end of the day, the 15-foot banner was completely covered in hundreds of signatures — and someone even wrote in the name of the 16-year-old Cazenovia teen who died in 2015 after committing suicide.

At the end of the day, Rees said he was impressed by the students of Cazenovia – how engaged and interested they were in the program and how many came up to him afterward to offer a comment or a thank you. “I probably had more middle schoolers come up and thank me here than anyplace else,” he said.

More than 150 students showed interest in helping to create and run a Friends of Rachel Club in Cazenovia, said Knuth, and from those 100 were chosen to be trained as student leaders. These clubs are the sustainable piece of the program, he said, and the student interest was “overwhelming.”

But it was not just the kids who were impressed by Rachel’s story, it was also the parents.

“I really liked the program because I thought it was relatable. We all as parents that have children in teen and tween ages worry about acceptance and them finding their own way and finding the right crowd. I think every child feels they don’t fit in at some time. It showed that Rachel, this girl with great family and great upbringing but could see that others didn’t fit in and wanted to help them,” said attendee Heather Crouch, who has four children who attend Cazenovia schools. “I really like that [the school district] included the parents in the evening time so we could see what our kids saw, and go home and start a conversation with our kids.”

Attendee Shioban Reilley, who has two children in Cazenovia schools, also found the program powerful and inspiring. “The adults in this world should take a small page from [Rachel’s] journal and live it. It really effected [my son] to see the story of Rachel’s life. He understands that he needs to do exactly what Rachel did and he says he tries to every day,” she said. “None of us is perfect but, it’s our job as parents to instill character in our kids. Hopefully, when they grow up, some of our words will reflect in their lives. In our current situation in the world, take a pause and think how you’re treating friends and family.”

More information about Rachel’s Challenge can be found on the organization’s website at rachelschallenge.org.