Tears and Vows of Kindness Follow School Assembly on Columbine Victim

Kids don't usually get emotional at school assemblies. Mess around? Yeah. Roll their eyes? Sure. But more than 100 kids moved to tears?

That seemingly unlikely scenario played out Thursday morning, when students at Port Chester Middle School experienced Rachel’s Challenge, a motivational mission formulated by the parents and friends of Rachel Scott, the first of twelve students to be killed at the Columbine High School massacre of 1999.

The message was simple: practice kindness towards one another—it could save a life.

“It’s important to try to feel what other people are feeling and to be respectful,” said eighth-grader Samantha Perez.

The presentation was led by a spokesperson for the program, Christopher Hall, who came armed with a series of challenges for the Port Chester kids to follow, along with a series of heart-wrenching video footage of Rachel’s story by her surviving friends and family who made it their mission to carry out her legacy.

“Don’t miss an opportunity to show you care about other people,” Hall told the younger set.

Hall recognized that as adolescents, it is all too common to make fun of others who may look or act differently—but it’s not all in harmless fun. The two gunmen who shot their fellow classmates that day had been victims of bullying, claiming they were picked on throughout the years. Judging by the lack of dry eyes in the room, it was clear at least some listeners would think twice before they had  a laugh at someone else’s expense.

“It taught us to be closer to people and to not judge others,” added Perez.

A few ‘challenges’ derived from Rachel’s found diary included a plea for youths to dream for the future, write down goals, and to keep a journal to express emotion. Hall joked that this may seem difficult for men to do as it seems ‘girly,’ but to not be embarrassed.

The end of the presentation arrived with a montage of Rachel’s young life, along with an instruction by Hall for adults and children to start a ‘chain reaction of kindness’ by doing something as small as befriending the new kid at school or giving a hug.

“We learned how important it is to carry the message [of caring] forward,” said eighth-grader Giselle Leonardo.

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