Rachel Scott

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Rachel Joy Scott
from Rachel's Tears: the Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott
Born	Rachel Joy Scott August 5, 1981(1981-08-05)
Died	April 20, 1999 (aged 17) Columbine, Colorado, United States
Cause of death	Murder
Burial place	Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, Littleton, Colorado 39°35′56.00″N -104°56′43.01″E / 39.5988889, -103.0547194
Parents	Beth Nimmo and Darrell Scott (b. 1949)
Relatives	Dana Scott (b. 1976), sister Craig Scott (b. 1983), brother Bethanee McCandless (b. 1975), sister Larry Scott, uncle
Website rachelschallenge.com

Rachel Joy Scott (August 5, 1981 - April 20, 1999) was the first victim of the Columbine High School massacre, which claimed the lives of 12 students and a teacher, along with the two perpetrators, in one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history.

Scott has since been the subject of several books and is the inspiration for Rachel’s Challenge, a nationwide school outreach program for the prevention of teen violence, featuring her family members as speakers:

• Darrell Scott (born 1949) – father

• Craig Scott (born 1983) – brother

• Dana Scott (born 1976) – sister (married)

• Bethanee McCandless (born 1975) – sister (married)

• Larry Scott – uncle

Rachel Scott lived near Littleton, Colorado, where she attended Columbine High School along with her younger brother, Craig. At the time of her death, the 17-year old junior was an aspiring writer and actress and had played the lead in a student-written play. Described as a devout Christian by her mother, Beth Nimmo, she was active as a youth group leader at Orchard Road Christian Center church near the Littleton area and was said to be known for her friendliness and compassionate nature. Rachel left behind six diaries and several essays about her belief in God and how she wanted to change the world through small acts of kindness.^[1] Shortly before her death, she wrote an essay for school stating, “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.”^[2]

Contents 1 The day of the shooting 2 Funeral 3 "Rachel’s Challenge" 4 Awards 5 References 6 External links 7 Other books published by Rachel Scott's parents

[edit] The day of the shooting

See also: Columbine High School massacre

Rachel Scott was slain while eating lunch with a friend, Richard Castaldo, on the lawn outside of the school's library. She was killed by multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest, arm, and leg. Afterwards, her car was turned into an impromptu flower-bedecked memorial in the school's parking lot by grieving students.

Early news reports said that one of the gunmen (Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold), after having first shot Rachel in her leg, asked the wounded girl if she still believed in God, and that she had answered "Yes", provoking a second, fatal shot to her head at point-blank range.^[1] Some accounts attributed this version of events to Castaldo, though he later denied telling this story.^[3] Despite the controversy surrounding this issue, Rachel’s parents contend in their book, Rachel’s Tears: the Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott, that their daughter was targeted by the killers and died as a martyr for her Christian faith, based on videotapes made by the teenage perpetrators in which they are said to mock Rachel for her beliefs.^[4]

[edit] Funeral

Rachel was buried on April 24, 1999 at the Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens. Her funeral was televised, and it was the most watched event on CNN up to that point.^[5] In addition, over 2,000 people came to the event itself.^[6]

[edit] "Rachel’s Challenge"

In the years since the shootings, Rachel Scott's life has been the basis for Rachel’s Challenge, a presentation given in schools and communities across North America by members of her family. It combines stark video footage of the Columbine High School massacre with Rachel’s drawings and writings in a campaign to quell school violence, bullying, and teen suicide. The Rachel's Challenge program includes establishing Friends of Rachel clubs in schools, following the initial presentation, to sustain the campaign's goals on a long-term basis.^[7]

Rachel's father, Darrell Scott, who had formerly pastored a church in Lakewood, Colorado and is the son of a minister in Shreveport, Louisiana, was a sales manager for a food company at the time of his daughter's slaying,^[3] having gone into business when his marriage to Beth ended in divorce in 1989.^[4] Darrell decided shortly after the Columbine tragedy to resign his job and speak to youth groups and communities, along with Rachel's mother, Beth, initially calling the movement Rachel's Redemption.^[1][3] Later, Darrell set up Rachel's Challenge Foundation as a non-profit organization. Its mission statement is to "motivate, educate and bring positive change to many young people". As part of this work, Scott regularly tours North America, speaking at churches, schools, and youth centers about Rachel's example. He has co-authored three books about his daughter's life and her spirituality. His writings and speeches express a spiritual perspective on the Columbine tragedy, which he considers to be essential for the prevention of teen violence.

Newsweek magazine said of him in October 2006, "Though the wounds from his daughter's death will never truly heal, Scott has devoted his life to preventing future Columbines ...the Rachel's Challenge Foundation — under Scott’s leadership — has reached out to more than 1,000 schools to deliver a "chain reaction" of hope through school assemblies, workshops and outreach programs."^[8] Scott told Newsweek, "...principals and teachers always need to be on the lookout for that kid who's isolated, or that's quiet, who always stays to himself, because that's typically the type of kid who ends up exploding. They also need to create an atmosphere in the school where students share with someone if they ever hear or see a threat. We know there have been numerous school shootings prevented because a student saw another student writing that he wanted to kill someone or something like that. I think that taking every single threat of any kind seriously is of utmost importance, and again to me it's cultivating an atmosphere, a climate and a culture where everyone's accepted. Because when people feel accepted they're not going to do something like Eric and Dylan [the Columbine perpetrators] did."

Rachel Scott’s younger brother Craig Scott, a 15-year old sophomore at the time, was physically unharmed but witnessed several classmates being killed in the school library as he huddled under a table with two other boys, both of whom were slain. The next day, he was interviewed at length by Katie Couric on the Today show. The tearful interview, which NBC did not interrupt with normally scheduled station breaks, was described a year later by USA Today as "one of the most indelible moments of the tragedy".^[9]

Craig wrote of his sister Rachel, "...her love for people was less conditional than anyone I knew... It didn't matter to her what you looked like or who your friends were. Another thing I liked and respected so much was that she made it clear... what her beliefs were".^[4]

Craig Scott makes frequent joint speaking appearances with Darrell Scott to urge teens to strive for a classroom "atmosphere of kindness and compassion" to stem school violence.^[10] He is also periodically interviewed on various television programs, such as 20/20, Dateline NBC, and the Today show, to discuss the loss of his sister and his difficult recovery from the traumatic ordeal he experienced as an eyewitness to the murderous rampage.

At the White House Conference on School Safety held in Washington, DC, on October 10, 2006, Craig Scott addressed the President of the United States, the U.S. Attorney General, and the Secretary of Education, saying, in part, "Kindness and compassion can be the biggest antidotes to anger and hatred, and I believe the biggest antidotes to violence. We've seen bullying stopped, incidents where a student came up with hit lists or plans to shoot up his school, and told either the speaker or told the teacher about their plans, but had a change of heart. How have we done it? We've done it with a simple story of a young girl who believed in compassion, Rachel Joy Scott. But my sister is not the only one who believes in kindness, and she's not been the only one in her brave stance against the injustice willing to stand up for the one who gets put down in school, to sit by the student that sits all alone at lunch, and to talk to or reach out to the one who is consistently ignored or made fun of. She literally has inspired millions of people to continue the chain reaction she started...".^[11]

In the aftermath of the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech massacre, Darrell and Craig Scott were interviewed on various television programs, such as Showbiz Tonight, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Fox & Friends, and Geraldo at Large, to share their thoughts about school violence and to remember Rachel Scott near the eighth anniversary of the Columbine tragedy. Craig Scott urged viewers on the Oprah show two days later to refrain from too much focus on the shooter, saying "I have found students that actually idolize the two shooters at Columbine... We've focused on my sister, who's so compassionate and kind. And from that, that's the opposite of that anger and hatred."^[10]

[edit] Awards

Rachel Joy Scott was posthumously given the 2001 National Kindness Award for Student of the Year by the Acts of Kindness Association. In 2006, the National Education Association (NEA) of New York awarded Darrell Scott and Rachel’s Challenge the Friend of Education Award. Rachel is also mentioned in the Flyleaf song, "Cassie," which focuses mainly on another Columbine victim, Cassie Bernall, and includes Rachel as well.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Rachel's Challenge (official website)
• Rachel's Legacy, by Beth Nimmo (Mother of Rachel Scott)
• Transcript of Darrell Scott's testimony, Subcommittee on Crime, U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, May 27, 1999.
• Life Choices, by John and Debbie Phillips (aunt and uncle of Rachel Scott)
• Columbine victims -Rachel Joy Scott
• "Columbine redemption - Rachel Scott" website
• Rachel Joy Scott at Find A Grave

[edit] Other books published by Rachel Scott's parents

• Beth Nimmo, The Journals of Rachel Joy Scott: A Journey of Faith at Columbine High. 2001 (ISBN 0-8499-7594-8).
• Darrell Scott, Chain Reaction: A Call To Compassionate Revolution. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2001 (ISBN 0-7852-6680-1).
• Darrell Scott, Rachel Smiles : The Spiritual Legacy of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott. 2002 (ISBN 0-7852-6472-8).