Rachel’s Challenge Coming to Middle Township Schools

The Middle Township Police Department has joined with the Middle Township School District to bring “Rachel’s Challenge”, a powerful character education program, to 6-12th grade students of Middle Township.
Rachel Scott was the first person killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Rachel’s acts of kindness and compassion coupled with the contents of her six diaries have become the foundation for the most life-changing school program in America. Powerful audio/video footage of Rachel’s Challenge holds students spell-bound during a one-hour school presentation that motivates them to positive change in the way they treat others. This is followed by a 45 minute training session involving both adult and student leaders. This is an interactive session that shows how to sustain the momentum created by the assembly. That evening the Rachel’s Challenge presenter conducts a powerful session with parents and community leaders. To sustain the positive climate change in a school, Rachel’s Challenge offers a year-long curriculum called Friends of Rachel program that continues training students and plugs them into activities that continue the chain reaction of kindness.
A few weeks after the tragedy Darrell Scott, Rachel’s father, spoke to a Congressional House Judiciary Committee regarding issues of school violence. His speech has become one of the most widely read on the internet. Shortly afterwards he founded “Rachel’s Challenge”, a bullying and violence abatement program. In 2008 more than 1.32 million students experienced Rachel’s Challenge and had the opportunity to accept the challenges, modeled after Rachel’s life and writings. The universal message of kindness and compassion told by Rachel’s story has been heard by students in several other countries. Since its beginning in 2000, the number of requests to present Rachel’s Challenge to students, parents, and educators continues to increase. The Scott family and other Rachel’s Challenge certified presenters have spoken to over 11 million people in live settings, and has reached millions more through being featured on popular media outlets like CNN, Fox News, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, Oprah, Dateline, O’Reilly Factor, Hannity and Colmes, and numerous others. Mr. Scott has also authored three books including the best seller “Rachel’s Tears.”
Darrell meets regularly with politicians and educators, and is also a keynote speaker at many large educational venues. He met with President Bill Clinton on two occasions and President George W. Bush has written a personal letter recommending Rachel’s Challenge.
The school program founded by Mr. Scott has prevented numerous suicides, drastically reduced bullying, and in three known instances in 2007 alone prevented a planned school shooting.
To learn more about this highly effective program visit www.rachelschallenge .org.
This program will arrive at the Middle Township Performing Arts Center on Wednesday December 8th, starting what we hope will be a chain reaction of kindness. Parents of Middle Township Middle and High School students are encouraged to attend the parent and community leaders’ assembly later that evening, 7:00 pm at the Performing Arts Center.