School safety seminar to be in memory of Columbine victim

By Owen Boss

WINCHENDON — The memory of Rachel J. Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings, will be passed on to students at Murdock Middle High School Monday during “Rachel’s Challenge,” an educational seminar aimed at improving the overall learning environment at the school. The program was founded by Ms. Scott’s parents after they read her personal journal following her death, and has been taken to more than a hundred schools across the country. According to the school’s nurse and coordinator of the event, Renee Boucher, before her death, Ms. Scott had been devoted to bettering the sometimes cruel relations between students at her school. “She was a student who really felt she was going to do great things with her life and make a difference in the world,” said Ms. Boucher. She felt that being kind to one person will cause them to be kind to someone else, like a chain reaction.” Ms. Boucher said part of the hourlong presentation will be devoted to reading Ms. Scott’s personal journal, which held stories of her compassion for some of the marginalized students at the high school. “One example from her journal is the story of a young boy who was wheelchair-bound and he was suicidal, and actually had a plan put in place and actually going through with it and killing himself,” said Ms. Boucher. “He was being picked on in the hall in between classes and Rachel apparently came down the hallway and stood up for this kid and the fact that she thought he was worthy of her help made him decide not to kill himself. This is about little things students can do to make the school better.” Although the program is rooted in child safety, Ms. Boucher said the goal is to improve the way students, teachers and parents interact with each other. “This is more about what the kids can do in their lives,” said Ms. Boucher. “It will then reflect school safety because changing the school climate will then in turn make the school itself safer. It is about making our school more welcoming.” The program will be presented to the community at 7 p.m. Monday at Murdock. The goal of the evening program is to stimulate an open conversation between parents and their children about how they can make the school a safer place to learn. oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 4 on 9/27/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 229)