LOUISVILLE, Ky. — South Oldham Middle School recently hosted “Rachel’s Challenge.”

Rachel Scott was the first student shot and killed at Columbine High School in 1999. She believed that kindness could change the world. She wrote about it, talked about it, and displayed it in her everyday actions. 


What You Need To Know

  • According to The National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, nearly 75% of school shooting incidents have been linked to bullying and harassment

  • Rachel Scott was the first student shot and killed at Columbine High School in 1999

  • South Oldham Middle School’s sixth through eighth-grade students heard Rachel’s story

South Oldham Middle School parent Shauntessa Barnett says she was moved by Rachel’s story.

“It inspires action. So I’m just I’m really moved by the presentation and I’m ready to kind of start a chain reaction myself,” said Barnett.

Barnett said her son came home talking about “Rachel’s Challenge” and how it motivated him and now discussing practical ways to spread kindness and compassion in their own lives.

She said, “I asked him ‘what did you get out of it?’ And he was like, ‘Well, I just want to be better. I want to be better and I want to affect someone else.’ It was mainly about him wanting to do more and be kind in taking the steps, just kind of every day do something nice and pay attention to him and how he responds. So I was just, you know, I was really impressed by his little, you know, process and how he responded to all of that.”

South Oldham Middle School’s sixth through eighth-grade students heard Rachel’s story

“It gave kids an opportunity to really connect with a story and really see themselves as potential positive change agents as they look forward to kind of these next days and the rest of this year,” said Christopher Rairick, the school’s associate principal.

100 students across each grade level gathered together to plan how they can could positively change South Oldham Middle School.

Kayla Bergholz with Rachel’s Challenge said, “They talked about creating a kindness tree so that students could post little notes of kindness at all of our exits and entryways of our building. You know, just kind of things about each other taking time, you know, throughout the day to be able to give and exchange things to fellow students, you know, taking initiative to welcome new students.”

It’s been almost 25 years since Columbine and Rachel’s story continues to be told to inspire others. Helping to create a permanent positive culture change within the schools and community through kindness and compassion.

“Rachel, she had this theory that if one person would go out of their way, just one person to show kindness and compassion, is going to start a chain reaction. And so we challenge the students and we challenge communities the same because we know that one heart at a time it does take that, but it really makes a trickle-down effect to make an impact on this world,” said Bergholz.

Out of tragedy came an effort to motivate others to commit to making a chain reaction of positivity.

“Little bit of kindness goes a long way, you might have someone to actually just stop and rethink and maybe evaluate and maybe pass along something, you know, to the next person that actually affects all of us and, you know, keep some bad things from happening,” said Barnett

The hope is that Rachel’s story ignites others to carry on the legacy of kindness and compassion to help change the world. Over 30 million people have been impacted by Rachel’s story and challenge, and that number continues to grow.