The Peters Township School
District is proud to bring the Rachel’s Challenge program to our students,
staff and community. Rachel’s Challenge
is a non-profit organization that seeks 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. On Tuesday,
September 18th, Bower Hill students and staff will participate in our
Rachel’s Challenge launch presentation.
This program is meant to inform students about the profound positive
impact we can have on those around us.
As you may be aware, Rachel
Joy Scott was the first person killed at Columbine High School on April 20,
1999. Rachel was known by students and
teachers as a student who was always kind and compassionate towards
everyone. Following her death, students
and staff reached out to her parents and media to share their stories of how
Rachel’s kindness positively impacted their life. From these stories, a national organization
was created to spread acts of kindness and caring in schools. Today, Rachel’s message reaches over 1.5
million people each year through 1,200 presentations given in schools and
communities around the country. Below is
a link to the Rachel’s Challenge website for you to learn more about this
program:
http://rachelschallenge.org/
Our
goal is that the Rachel’s Challenge launch motivates students to Start a Chain Reaction of
spreading acts of kindness and compassion. The presentation for students at this young age focuses on the challenge
to reach out to others with deliberate acts of kindness. The assembly is a fun,
energetic, interactive event that mixes music, video and activities to tell her
story. Students will learn about a young girl named Rachel; however they will
not hear or see footage related to the Columbine tragedy or her death.
On September
19 at 6:00 p.m. all elementary parents are also invited to attend a special
evening presentation in the Peters Township High School Auditorium, to learn
more about this program and specifically what it will mean to your elementary
child. Please note that our middle and
high school students will receive a more in depth look at Rachel’s life and the
impact made by her words following her tragic death. The evening event is
designed for adults as it provides this additional level of detail regarding
Rachel’s life, death and transforming message.
Peters
Township Character Counts is also sponsoring the Rachel’s Challenge community launch
at 6:30 p.m. on September 25th when we will welcome Rachel’s father Darrell Scott to our community.
To accommodate the large crowd
anticipated that evening, the event will take place at The Bible Chapel at 300
Gallery Drive in McMurray.
We hope you can attend this
important event for our community.