Columbine victim’s story inspires unity, compassion

• By JOHN A. COLVIN
• Advocate River parishes bureau
• Published: Jan 7, 2009 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LUTCHER — Nearly 1,100 students left Lutcher High School on Tuesday with a message of unity and compassion.

During a 90-minute presentation, Craig Scott, one of the 23 students wounded in the 1999 school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, shared the challenge set forth by his sister, Rachel Scott.

She was the first to die of gunfire from the two shooters as they entered the school, Craig Scott said.

“She didn’t live to see the chain reaction she started,” Craig Scott said.

Rachel Scott’s death, coupled with an essay she had written a month before, is the catalyst for a program started by her friends and relatives, Rachel’s Challenge.

Her parents, Darrell and Sandy Scott, founded the program to bring positive change to school environments and prevent campus violence, which continues to be an issue across the nation and in Louisiana.

In her essay, “My Ethics, My Codes of Life,” she wrote, “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.

“People will never know how far a little kindness can go.”

Craig Scott told the Lutcher High audience that the killers, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, also referred to a chain reaction in a videotape recorded about the same time Rachel Scott finished her essay.

“They chose to focus on a lot of negative things; my sister chose to focus on positive aspects of life,” Craig Scott said.

“They sought … a chain reaction of anger.”

Based on Rachel Scott’s definition of compassion — forgiving, loving, helping, leading and showing mercy for others — Rachel’s Challenge is made up of five challenges.

Craig Scott addressed audiences at Lutcher High, St. James High School, then a Tuesday night session open to the public. The five challenges in the program are:

• Choose positive influences.
• Dare to dream by setting goals and keeping a journal.
• Use kind words to make a “huge impact.”
• Eliminate prejudice by looking for the best in others.
• Share love with those close to you.

Craig Scott, who described himself as a “jock” during his high school years, also told how the shootings affected him and motivated him to change his life based on the five challenges.