Heather Latter
District schools will be able to sustain “Rachel’s Challenge” beyond the initial presentations set for Sept. 28-30 thanks to additional contributions from local groups and organizations.
Steve Latimer, youth justice co-ordinator with the United Native Friendship Centre here, originally was seeking funds to bring the presentation to the area.
But upon reaching that goal, he began to look for ways for the students to keep “Rachel’s Challenge” alive in their schools.
“Rachel’s Challenge” is a program developed by the family of Rachel Scott after she was killed in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.
It aims to inspire, equip, and empower every person to create a permanent positive culture change in their school, business, and community by starting a chain reaction of kindness and compassion—a theory Scott displayed daily in her life.
Upon making presentations to community groups for funds for the cause, Latimer noted one of the questions most often asked was what are we going to do to follow this up?
“What are we going to do to make sure that the students, who want to be able to move ahead with this program, are able to do that?” he remarked.
“I gave that a lot of thought.”
Latimer indicated it has to be up to the students to sustain the challenge.
“As adults, we have been trying to work on eliminating violence in schools, bullying, but we say don’t do it.
“And the students aren’t really invested in it too much, so this has to be student-driven,” he stressed.
Latimer then discovered the “Friends of Rachel” clubs that have been established in many schools throughout the United States to help students continue the chain reaction of kindness and compassion.
This program offers a kit providing a handbook, a classroom manual, a journal, banners, posters, kindness cards, and other materials.
There also are webinars available for the students, as well as plenty of ideas to help maintain the momentum of the program throughout the year.
In addition, a resource person from “Rachel’s Challenge” is assigned to the club to provide guidance on a regular basis.
“Not only does this program give them the information, but it gives them the tools to move ahead to make this change that we hope can be made in a positive way, so it’s a really good toolkit,” Latimer said.
“But they are not cheap, and that’s bearing in mind that ‘Rachel’s Challenge’ is non-profit.”
Latimer already has been able to bring in enough money to purchase the “Friends of Rachel” kits for about half of the schools in the area.
“And I’m waiting for some major contributors to get back to me,” he added.
“I really think we are going to be able to put a kit in every school.”
Another tool Latimer is prepared to offer district students to sustain “Rachel’s Challenge” is a Facebook page to link all the schools.
“Our schools are so spread out—from Lac La Croix to Nestor Falls, from Atikokan to Rainy River—it’s a huge geographical area,” he noted.
“The page would allow all 21 schools to be connected and be able to interact with each other.
“I think the kids would really respond well to the social media aspect,” he reasoned.
Latimer also said he’s received enough money to be able to buy banners that will hang in each school as a constant reminder of the challenge.
“Because [the presenters] are going to be here three days, we originally got three banners, but we have 21 schools participating,” he explained, noting the first group he approached for funds offered to pay for all the banners.
Yet another organization has contributed enough money to buy books for all the public libraries in the district.
“I really do think this is the best possible program the students could ever get,” Latimer enthused. “And it’s going to be possible because the communities have just stepped up to the plate like they always do.
“The response has been really good,” he said. “When people in this district see the value in something, they get behind it, they really do.”
Latimer added the presenters from “Rachel’s Challenge” have indicated this will be the largest presentation they’ve done in Canada.
“They are really excited about this,” he remarked. “In fact, they threw in an extra evening presentation.
“So now on Wednesday [Sept. 28] and Thursday [Sept. 29], we will be doing evening presentations for the public.”
There will be free tickets that people will be able to pick up in the community (watch for more information about where and when they will be available).
“So 700 people are going to be able to take this in,” Latimer noted. “All they have to do is pick up their free ticket and they can see what ‘Rachel’s Challenge’ is all about.”
Three presenters of “Rachel’s Challenge” will offer up the program to every student in Grades 6-12 in the district, as well as the public presentations.
“That’s over 2,000 students,” Latimer stressed, noting all three school boards in the area (Rainy River District School Board, Northwest Catholic District School Board, and Seven Generations Education Institute) will participate.
Sept. 28 will see three assemblies, each one hour and 15 minutes long, at the Townshend Theatre.
The following day will feature two assemblies, as well as a peer training session in the afternoon that selected students will attend.
The final day of the program will be held in Atikokan, with students from Mine Centre and Lac La Croix attending there.
Latimer is thrilled with the support he’s received from the community.
Two local organizations are planning to donate a portion of their proceeds to the “Rachel’s Challenge” program here—the Voyageur Lions Club with their annual Drive-Thru Breakfast next month and the Borderland Roller Derby League with its bout here Sept. 3.
“I’d really like to see the public get out and support these two events because every dollar that goes in, some of that will be going to ‘Rachel’s Challenge,’” Latimer said.
Anyone looking to support “Rachel’s Challenge” locally can contact Latimer at 274-8541.
More information also can be found at www.rachelschallenge.org
