Rachel Scott

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Rachel Joy Scott

from Rachel's Tears: the Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott
Born Rachel Joy Scott
August 5, 1981(1981-08-05)
Died April 20, 1999 (aged 17)
Columbine, Colorado, United States
Resting place Columbine Memorial Gardens at Chapel Hill Cemetery, Littleton, Colorado
39°35′56.00″N -104°56′43.01″E / 39.59889°N 103.0547194°W / 39.59889; -103.0547194
Parents Beth Nimmo and Darrell Scott (b. 1949)
Relatives Dana Scott (b. 1976), sister
Mike Scott (b. 1984), brother
Craig Scott (b. 1983), brother
Bethanee McCandless (b. 1975), sister
Larry Scott, uncle
Sarah Scott, cousin
Jeff Scott, cousin
Website
rachelschallenge.org
racheljoyscott.com

Rachel Joy Scott (August 5, 1981 – April 20, 1999) was the first victim of the Columbine High School massacre, which claimed the lives of 12 students and one teacher, along with the two perpetrators, in one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history.

She has since been the subject of several books and is the inspiration for Rachel’s Challenge, a nationwide school outreach program for the prevention of teen violence, based on her life and writings. The program's speakers include her father, Darrell Scott, and brother, Craig Scott.[1] Her mother, Beth Nimmo, has also authored books and is the speaker for Rachel Joy Scott Ministries, to perpetuate her daughter's legacy.

Contents

[edit] Background

Rachel Joy Scott was born on August 5, 1981, one of five children of Darrell Scott (born 1949) and Beth Nimmo. Her older sisters are Bethanee (born 1975) and Dana (born 1976) and her two younger brothers are Craig (born 1983) and Mike (born 1984). Her father had formerly pastored a church in Lakewood, Colorado, but left the ministry when the marriage ended in divorce in 1989.[2] The following year, Beth and the children moved to the Littleton, Colorado, area, where she remarried in 1995.[2] Darrell Scott became a sales manager for a food company in the Denver area and had joint custody of the children with their mother.[3][4] As a child, she was attended Governor's Ranch Elementary School, and subsequently Ken Caryl Middle School. Coincidentally, she knew Dylan Klebold since kindergarten, and she would remain in the same classes with him up until her death (the two were even members of Columbine's Theater production club)[5] however he never befriended her and by High School, he would eventually turn against her due to her deep religious convictions.[6]

At the time of her death, the 17-year old Columbine High School junior was an aspiring writer and actress, having had the leading role in a student-written play. Described as a devout Christian by her mother, she was active as a youth group leader at Orchard Road Christian Center church near Littleton and was said to be known for her friendliness and compassionate nature. Rachel left behind six diaries and several essays about her belief in God and how she wanted to change the world through small acts of kindness.[7] Shortly before her death, she wrote an essay for school stating, “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.”[8]

[edit] The day of the shooting

See also: Columbine High School massacre

Rachel Scott was shot while eating lunch with a friend, Richard Castaldo, on the lawn outside of the school's library. She was killed by multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest, arm, and leg. Afterwards, her car was turned into an impromptu flower-bedecked memorial in the school's parking lot by grieving students.

Early news reports said that one of the gunmen, after having first shot Rachel in her leg, asked the wounded girl if she still believed in God, and that she had simply answered "You know I do", provoking a second, fatal shot to her head at point-blank range.[7] The FBI later concluded that this interaction did not take place.[9] Some accounts attributed this version of events to Castaldo, who was severely wounded in the attack himself. Although his mother told a Dateline NBC interviewer about the exchange, Castaldo denied telling this story in a December, 1999, Time magazine interview.[4][6] Despite the controversy surrounding this issue, Rachel’s parents contend in their book, Rachel’s Tears: the Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott, that their daughter was targeted by the killers and died as a martyr for her Christian faith, based on videotapes made by the teenage perpetrators in which they are said to mock Rachel by name for her beliefs.[6]

[edit] Funeral

Scott's funeral on April 24, 1999, was attended by more than 2,000 people and was televised nationwide. It was the most watched event on CNN up to that point, surpassing even the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales.[10][11] Roger Rosenblatt of Time magazine wrote in his commentary that her funeral was "... ineradicable because of the photograph of your bright and witty face, now sadly familiar to the country, and because of the loving and admiring testimonies of your family."[12]

[edit] "Rachel’s Challenge"

Scott's father, Darrell, decided shortly after the Columbine tragedy to resign his job and speak to youth groups and communities, along with Scott's mother, Beth Nimmo, in a non-profit organization called Columbine Redemption.[4][7][13] Beginning in December, 1999, Columbine Redemption published a monthly magazine, Rachel's Journal, providing articles by her family and guest columnists, and excerpts from her writings, along with profiles of other Columbine victims, such as teacher William David "Dave" Sanders.[14]

The April 2000 issue of the Rachel's Journal monthly magazine, with its theme "Triumph from Tragedy"

Later, Scott established Rachel's Challenge as a non-profit organization, to perpetuate his daughter's example and the two-page "Code of Ethics" she wrote a month before her death.[15] Its mission statement is to "motivate, educate and bring positive change to many young people". The Rachel’s Challenge presentations are given in schools and communities by members of her family and other speakers, using video footage of the Columbine High School massacre and its aftermath, combined with Scott’s drawings and writings, in a campaign to quell school violence, bullying, and teen suicide. As of 2009, Rachel's Challenge has developed a team of 30 speakers addressing young people in schools and colleges worldwide about Rachel's example.[15] The Rachel's Challenge program includes establishing Friends of Rachel clubs in schools, following the initial presentation, to sustain the campaign's goals on a long-term basis.[16]

Darrell Scott has co-authored three books about his daughter's life and her impact, urging students to practice compassion and kindness. Newsweek magazine said of him in October 2006, "Though the wounds from his daughter's death will never truly heal, Scott has devoted his life to preventing future Columbines ...the Rachel's Challenge non-profit organization — under Scott’s leadership — has reached out to thousands of schools to deliver a "chain reaction" of hope through school assemblies, workshops and outreach programs."[17] Scott told Newsweek, "...principals and teachers always need to be on the lookout for that kid who's isolated, or that's quiet, who always stays to himself, because that's typically the type of kid who ends up exploding. They also need to create an atmosphere in the school where students share with someone if they ever hear or see a threat. We know there have been numerous school shootings prevented because a student saw another student writing that he wanted to kill someone or something like that. I think that taking every single threat of any kind seriously is of utmost importance, and again to me it's cultivating an atmosphere, a climate and a culture where everyone's accepted. Because when people feel accepted they're not going to do something like Eric and Dylan [the Columbine perpetrators] did."

Scott’s younger brother Craig, a 16-year old Columbine High School sophomore at the time of the shootings, was physically unharmed but witnessed several classmates being killed in the school library as he huddled under a table with two other boys, both of whom were slain. The next day, he was interviewed at length by Katie Couric on the Today show. The tearful interview, which NBC did not interrupt with normally scheduled station breaks, was described a year later by USA Today as "one of the most indelible moments of the tragedy".[18]

Craig wrote of his sister Rachel, "...her love for people was less conditional than anyone I knew... It didn't matter to her what you looked like or who your friends were. Another thing I liked and respected so much was that she made it clear... what her beliefs were".[19]

He continues to make frequent speaking appearances on behalf of Rachel's Challenge, urging teens to strive for a classroom "atmosphere of kindness and compassion" to stem school violence.[20] He is also periodically interviewed on various television programs, such as 20/20, Dateline NBC, and the Today show, to discuss the loss of his sister and his difficult recovery from the traumatic ordeal he experienced as an eyewitness to the murderous rampage.

[edit] Recent years

Craig Scott with then-United States President George W. Bush at a White House meeting on October 10, 2006

At the White House Conference on School Safety held in Washington, DC, on October 10, 2006, Craig Scott addressed the President of the United States, the U.S. Attorney General, and the Secretary of Education, saying, in part, "Kindness and compassion can be the biggest antidotes to anger and hatred, and I believe the biggest antidotes to violence. We've seen bullying stopped, incidents where a student came up with hit lists or plans to shoot up his school, and told either the speaker or told the teacher about their plans, but had a change of heart. How have we done it? We've done it with a simple story of a young girl who believed in compassion, Rachel Joy Scott. But my sister is not the only one who believes in kindness, and she's not been the only one in her brave stance against the injustice willing to stand up for the one who gets put down in school, to sit by the student that sits all alone at lunch, and to talk to or reach out to the one who is consistently ignored or made fun of. She literally has inspired millions of people to continue the chain reaction she started...".[21]

In the aftermath of the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech massacre, Darrell and Craig Scott were interviewed on various television programs, such as Showbiz Tonight, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Fox & Friends, and Geraldo at Large, to share their thoughts about school violence and to remember Rachel Scott near the eighth anniversary of the Columbine tragedy. Craig Scott urged viewers on the Oprah show two days later to refrain from too much focus on the shooter, saying "I have found students that actually idolize the two shooters at Columbine... We've focused on my sister, who's so compassionate and kind. And from that, that's the opposite of that anger and hatred."[20]

On April 20, 2009, the tenth anniversary of the Columbine shootings, Darrell Scott told NBC interviewer Natalie Morales on the Today show, "We've seen a lot of lives changed from her story and our program, Rachel's Challenge, has touched literally 13 million lives over the last ten years".[15] He said that from September, 2008, to April, 2009, his organization received 105 emails from teens dissuaded from suicide because of attending a Rachel's Challenge program.[15] In a separate interview aired the same day, Craig Scott told Morales that, "I meet a lot of hurting students out there and I share with them my hurtful story, but I'm not just carrying a sob story around ... I'm trying to share with them some of the things that I learned to get through it and to be a better person because of it".[22] As of 2008, Craig Scott has spoken to more than one million people in making appearances for Rachel's Challenge, while pursuing a career in filmmaking.[23] He hopes to produce inspirational films and is on the board of directors of the American Screenwriters Association.[23]

[edit] Awards

Rachel Joy Scott was posthumously awarded the 2001 National Kindness Award for Student of the Year by the Acts of Kindness Association. In 2006, the National Education Association (NEA) of New York awarded Darrell Scott and Rachel’s Challenge the Friend of Education Award.

In June, 2009, Darrell Scott was selected in a nationwide vote of more than 750,000 baseball fans as the Colorado Rockies "All-Stars Among Us" winner, based on individual public service for his efforts in starting the Rachel's Challenge campaign.[24] He was honored along with the other 29 winners representing all major league baseball teams as part of the pregame ceremonies at the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 14, 2009.[24][25]

[edit] In Popular Culture

Rachel Scott inspired Julie Miller's song "Rachel," which was released on the 2001 album, Buddy & Julie Miller.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Rachel's Challenge—Presenters". 2009. http://www.rachelschallenge.com/ProgramsWeOffer/ProgramPresenters/tabid/1964/Default.aspx. Retrieved 2009-04-15. 
  2. ^ a b Beth Nimmo and Darrell Scott (2000). Rachel's Tears—The Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott. Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers. pp. 57, 61, 173. ISBN 0785268480. 
  3. ^ Rachel's Tears, p. 32.
  4. ^ a b c S.C. Gwynne (1999-12-20). "An Act of God?". Time magazine. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,992875,00.html?promoid=googlep. Retrieved 2009-05-05. 
  5. ^ Template:Http://acolumbinesite.com/victim/rachel.html
  6. ^ a b c Rachel's Tears, pp. 89–92.
  7. ^ a b c "Preserving A Daughter's Spirit". CBS News. 2000-04-20. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/04/20/columbine/main186406.shtml. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
  8. ^ Scott, Rachel (1999). "My Ethics, My Codes of Life". Rachel's Challenge. http://rachelschallenge.com/LearnMore/RachelsEssay/tabid/1701/Default.aspx. Retrieved 2009-05-05. 
  9. ^ Toppo, Greg (April 13, 2009). "10 years later, the real story behind Columbine". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm#. Retrieved 2009-04-15. 
  10. ^ A Columbine Site
  11. ^ "17-year-old girl 'shined for God at all times'", Rocky Mountain News
  12. ^ Rosenblatt, Roger (May 10, 1999). "A Note for Rachel Scott". Time. http://www.racheljoyscott.com./rjslegacysite/time.html. Retrieved 2009-04-15. 
  13. ^ Rachel's Tears, p. 181.
  14. ^ Reilly, Rick (February/March 2000). "The Big Hero of Littleton". Rachel's Journal I (no. 3): 17, 24. 
  15. ^ a b c d "Father remembers Columbine victim" (video). Today show. NBC. April 20, 2009. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/30294052#30307357. Retrieved 2009-04-20. 
  16. ^ Friends of Rachel program, 2008
  17. ^ "Celebrate Their Lives", Jessica Bennett, Newsweek, Oct. 4, 2006.
  18. ^ Patrick O'Driscoll and Tom Kenworthy, "A 'rough year' for victim's brother", USA Today, April 19, 2000.
  19. ^ Rachel's Tears, p. 136.
  20. ^ a b "A Columbine Survivor Urges the Virginia Tech Community to Stay Positive", The Oprah Winfrey Show, April 18, 2007.
  21. ^ White House news release: Conference on School Safety, Oct. 10, 2006
  22. ^ "Columbine changed me" (video). Today show. NBC. April 20, 2009. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/30294052#30294052. Retrieved 2009-04-20. 
  23. ^ a b "Board of Directors". The American Screenwriters Association. 2008. http://www.asascreenwriters.com/bod.shtml. Retrieved 2009-04-22. 
  24. ^ a b Singer, Tim (June 29, 2009). "Scott is Rockies' All-Star Among Us". mlb.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090629&content_id=5602944&vkey=news_col&fext=.jsp&c_id=col&partnerId=rss_col. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 
  25. ^ Newman, Mark (July 14, 2009). "Obama kicks off historic night in St. Louis". mlb.com. http://wap.mlb.com/news/article/200907145874014. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 

[edit] Further reading

  • Beth Nimmo, The Journals of Rachel Joy Scott: A Journey of Faith at Columbine High. 2001 (ISBN 0-8499-7594-8).
  • Darrell Scott, Chain Reaction: A Call To Compassionate Revolution. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2001 (ISBN 0-7852-6680-1).
  • Darrell Scott, Rachel Smiles : The Spiritual Legacy of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott. 2002 (ISBN 0-7852-6472-8).
  • Vision Video, Untold Stories Of Columbine. 2000 (ISBN 1-56364-365-0). Recounts Rachel Scott's life and Darrell Scott's teaching

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Scott"