Rachel Joy Scott Zine

Front Cover

RACHEL JOY SCOTT

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ABOUT RACHEL Rachel was born on August 5, 1981.

Since a young age, she committed herself to the well-being of others and to treating everyone with kindness and compassion.

On April 20, 1999, Rachel was the first fatal victim of the Columbine High School Massacre, shot and killed

by Eric Harris on the school’s west lawn.

In 2001, on her behalf, Rachel’s father founded Rachel’s Challenge to continue her legacy of compassion.

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Rachel Joy Scott, 1997 (Age 15, two years before her death)

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HER CONTRIBUTIONS A Legacy

of Kindness

and Compassion

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At 13, Rachel Joy Scott traced the outline of her hands on the back of her dresser (seen above).

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GMU, Aerial View Monument Location #1 (Seen Above)

Bourbon Street, New Orleans, Louisiana Aerial View Monument Location #2 (Seen Above)

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Rachel Joy Scott, 1997 (Age 15, two years before her death)

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ABOUT MONUMENT It will be a visual copy of Rachel Joy Scott’s iconic photo, wherein she sits on a rock and smiles ahead.

Underneath Rachel, on the rock there will be an etching of her most famous quote (“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.”), followed by her full name.

The monument will stand at roughly nine feet tall and five feet wide/long/deep. It will be carved from stone.

One copy will be placed outside an entrance of The Johnson Center at George Mason University, meant to provide every student entering the center a beautiful example of how best to treat others; the other will stand along Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. Since Louisiana (outstandingly) marks the highest bullying rate of any state in the United States and since New Orleans is the most populated (and arguably the most dangerous) city there, Bourbon Street being the most popular still, it is the perfect location for a reminder of warmth, kindness, and love.

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WHY RACHEL . . ?

There is nothing more important, more necessary, than kindness and compassion, both of which Rachel provided, and continues to provide (to millions), nationwide. Compassion, known also as empathy, is the line between human and animal: understanding and concern for another person’s misfortune can’t be duplicated by any species but ours... and Rachel Joy Scott is a perfect example of that unique magic we share.

Rachel’s legacy, the Rachel’s Challenge program especially, teaches against bullying, gossip, and ambivalence... And she, like her idol Anne Frank, teaches people to look for not only the best in life, but for the best in people as well. She reminds people to dream, and to dream big; to be positive; to treat others the way you’d want to be treated; and so much more.

Rachel Joy Scott, like most of us, lived a very ordinary life--her parents divorced; she was the middle sibling of five; she lived in a middle-class house in a middle-class suburb; she went to public school and received slightly above-average grades--but she wasn’t ordinary.

“I WON’T BE LABELLED AS AVERAGE,” Rachel wrote on her journal cover- and she wasn’t, nor will she ever be average. By being kind and generous and good, talents we all possess, Rachel made a difference.

Back Cover

WILL YOU ACCEPT