a change is gonna come.

two or three weeks ago, we had a program at school called rachel's challenge. it spread the incredibly inspirational story of rachel joy scott, the first person killed in the columbine high school shooting. she always knew she would change the world, and in fact, she did. the message she wanted to spread was to start a chain reaction of kindness (read more here). throughout the two hour presentation, the auditorium full of high school students was dead silent. not one person whispered a word, the only sounds were occasional deep breaths taken in between tears. i have never seen my entire class of three hundred that respectful and that drawn in to a presentation.

i think that at first, there were many people skeptical of what rachel's challenge could do for our school. sure, we've got nice kids here, but can we really start a chain reaction of kindness? the answer's yes.

rachel's challenge has changed our school completely. not in a big way, but in the smallest, most meaningful way. today, at lunch, i saw two girls walk over to another girl, sitting alone at a table, and join her. i bet those twenty minutes she no longer had to spend alone made her day. and the best part of it? i see this happen almost every day. it's incredible. the chain reaction of kindness is spreading. whether it be a big action such as joining someone at lunch, or just something little; inspirational sticky notes on the bathroom mirrors, it's spreading. and i'm proud, humbled, and inspired to be a part of the little things becoming something this big.

“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. People will never know how far a little kindness can go.”  -Rachel Scott