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April 2008
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I loved doing this story and hope you enjoy reading it. It's involves a school district and team who not only implemented a program encouraging kindness and compassion at their secondary schools but also counselors at the elementary level who created a program from scratch to start those good feelings of caring for others with the younger kiddos.
Rockwall ISD: Elementary students take challenge to spread compassion
"Before, someone could drop their crayons and everyone would laugh," Dobbs Elementary counselor Dina Rowe said. "Now, there's a dog pile with everyone on the ground helping." Grace Hartman Elementary counselor Rochelle Eddy got the idea for the elementary program after her daughter at Rockwall-Heath High School told her how Rachel's Challenge had moved boys there to tears. "I felt so passionate about bringing it to our younger students," Ms. Eddy said. "The foundation for everything starts at the elementary school level." She enlisted Ms. Rowe and Amy Parks-Heath Elementary counselor Christi Crump to meet with Ms. Boyd about the idea. They faced two hurdles. First, no one had developed a program for elementary pupils, so they would have to write one. Second, they would have to deal sensitively with Rachel's death. She was among a dozen Columbine students and one teacher killed by two students in April 1999 who then committed suicide. "We wanted the program to be about how Rachel lived," Ms. Eddy said. Rachel's father, Darrell Scott, developed the program for higher grades in memory of his daughter. He based its message on Rachel's journal entries, such as "If one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same." "Rachel's message was all about looking out for others, whether they're a new student or being bullied," Mr. Scott said. "Thousands of schools are involved in the program around the world. We've seen many student suicides and school shootings prevented because of it." The Rockwall district's elementary counselors met over the summer to tailor the program for younger children. They focused on five challenges identified by Rachel – influence, goal setting, journaling, prejudice and kindness. They represented them on the fingers of a hand, taking inspiration from an outline Rachel had made of her own hands with the message, "These hands belong to Rachel Joy Scott and will some day touch millions of people's hearts." Last month, they launched the program, focusing on building a Chain Reaction of Kindness. Ms. Boyd divvied up 73,000 slips of paper among classrooms. As students and teachers witness acts of kindness, they write them on the slips, which are then formed into links of a chain. "Instead of tattling, we encourage telling when they see something good that is done," Ms. Boyd said. In May, the campuses will link their chains together to form one long one during a rally at Wilkerson-Sanders Memorial Stadium. The chain reaction is happening in other ways, too. Librarians are stocking books about kindness. Sixth-graders serve as peer advisers in a Kindness and Compassion Club. Art teachers are creating giant hand displays. But the biggest displays come from students. "We have less disciplinary issues and more instances of 'How can I help my friend who is sad?' " Ms. Rowe said. Parents are noticing. "It teaches kids to recognize kindness when they see it," said Hartman parent Leslie Milder. "The school is teaching the whole child – their character and academics." Her first-grade daughter, Grace, got a chain link recently for picking up a pencil dropped by a student. "The chains help us remember to be nicer to others and be helpful," Grace said. Superintendent Gene Burton is pleased to have the Rachel's Challenge program on every Rockwall school district campus. "This is not a shot in the arm but something we'll continue and incorporate in our day-to-day and lesson planning," he said. Mr. Scott plans to meet with the Rockwall counselors this month to learn about their elementary program. "What they've done is great," he said. "Rachel's message is important at this level. It's a place where crucial lifelong behaviors are formed." Ms. Eddy is hoping the Rockwall elementary program will be incorporated nationally. "Either way, we'll still do our program," she said. "We're on a mission of spreading kindness and compassion. You just never know what chain you cause down the road." |
Here's a great story I had the opportunity to work on this week. It's about Rockwall Independent School District implementing the program, Rachel's Challenge in their schools. The program is in thousands of schools across the globe and inspired by the journals written by 17-year-old Rachel Scott, the first victim of the Columbine High School shootings in 1999. I spoke with her dad, Darrell for this story. He told me stories of how Rachel always had this compassion for helping out everyone and anyone whether it was the new kid at school who needed someone to sit with at lunch to someone being bullied or picked on if they had a different skin color or special needs.
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