Rachel's Challenge presented by Oregon Trail Community Foundation

The Rachel’s Challenge is a powerful intervention for our schools that creates a school climate less susceptible to harassment, bullying and violence. This program is named after Rachel Scott, the first person killed at Columbine High School in 1999. Rachel was energized by people. This love expressed itself in an outgoing personality, but also in a heartfelt compassion for people in pain. Rachel learned the power of simple compliments and acts of kindness at an early age. In high school she deliberately reached out to three groups of people and wrote about it in her diary. She said, “I want to reach out to those with special needs because they are often overlooked. I want to reach out to those who are new in school because they don’t have any friends yet. And I want to reach out to those who are picked on or put down by others.” Rachel didn’t just write about it, she lived it. After Rachel’s death, her legacy for kindness lives on in such a big way. Rachel’s Challenge is an all-day school initiative that gets to the heart of our kids. It reaches the unreachable. After many hours of research, including phone calls and interviews with school adminstration from as far away as Upstate New York, and a visit to a school in Colorado to watch the program in action, the OTCF is eager to bring this program to our schools in the Valley September 11-13, 2018, incorcorpating Scottsbluff, Gering, Minatare, Bayard, Bridgeport, Mitchell and Morrill. Why would we get involved in education? Because we are a Community Foundation, and because these kids ARE our community and our future leaders, teachers, employers, government, and philanthropists. We believe this is an important message for our kids who face hatred, intolerance and many sides of bullying daily. To find out more, you can visit the Rachel’s Challenge website at rachelschallenge.org or call us at OTCF to get involved! We would love to have some volunteers who are members and supporters of OTCF. Our number is 308-635-3393.