From Harford County Public Schools:
On Thursday, March, 8, 2012, Patterson Mill Middle/High School will host three “Rachel’s Challenge” presentations for students, parents and community leaders.
Rachel Scott was the first person killed in the Columbine High School tragedy on April, 20, 1999 and through this program Rachel’s legacy of kindness and compassion lives on. Speakers from the organization will give hour long presentations at 8:00 a.m. for high school students and 9:00 a.m. for middle school students.
The program features powerful video/audio footage of Rachel’s life and the Columbine tragedy. Rachel’s Challenge motivates students to treat others with care and respect. A special presentation will be held at 7:00 p.m. for families and community members in the auditorium. For more information, contact the school at 410-638-4640.
Will Rachael’s Christian faith be part of the presentation?
It was when it was presented earlier this year at Bel Air High School.
We saw the presentation yesterday and there was no mention of her faith at all. It IS an awesome program though. You saw a change in the students right away that hopefully we can sustain and build on.
Rachel’s Challenge proposes a great message to students, however, some of the delivery is totally innapropriate for public schools. During the presentation it is suggested that Rachel had premonitions about her death, that Rachel drew pictures prophesizing the death of 13 students, that a stranger contacted Rachel’s father months after the shootings about a dream related to Rachel’s pictures, as well as insinuating that Rachel was “chosen” to be killed…and not just by her killers. Although the presentation does not directly identify Rachel as a martyr, she certainly is described as one, even going so far as to compare her life to the life of Anne Frank, which is disguisting at best. For a young girl to grow up in suburbia without having to undergo the slightest level of discrimination and then be killed at such a young age is tragic, but is in no way even worth discussing in the same story with what happened to Anne Frank. Again, the message of the presentation is admirable, but the mysticism and prophetic imagery assigned to Rachel detracts from that message, and should be considered unconstitutional to present in public schools. It is also clear that, from statments made by both of Rachel’s parents that they clearly want to bring Christianity into the public schools. Below are links that indicate the agenda of the Scott family. The $5,000 – $6,000 that schools spend on this presentation should be an outrage to the parents of public school students. It should also be unnacceptable to all Americans when the US Constitution is disregarded in the name of “getting kids to be nice to each other”.
Link to Rachel’s dad’s testimony before Congress:
http://www.free2pray.info/darrellscott.html
Link to Rachel’s mom’s website (Rachel Joy Scott ministries):
http://www.racheljoyscott.com/news.htm
I can’t disagree with what you said because the book “Rachel’s Tears” does go more into depth about the religious part of the situation.
HOWEVER, what was presented to the students mentioned NOTHING about her religion at all and glanced right over the premonitions. The message students received was to choose kindness and understanding over prejudice and meanness. Yes, the program was expensive, but school instructional funds were not used for the program. Donations from various student/school groups funded the presentation. I will also say this is the first assembly I have seen that really seemed to affect students and not just be a nice way to get out of class.
You are correct about the overall message, which is a positive one. You are also correct that her religion is not discussed, however, you say they “glanced right over the premonitions”. First, 15 minutes of an hour long presentation is not “glancing over them”…it’s 25% of the presentation. Second, ask yourself, “why are the premonitions included in the presentation in the first place?”. The simple fact that the premonitions are included is a testament to the Scott Family’s agenda at promoting the inclusion of religion in public schools. Once the students are indoctrinated by this program they are regularly suggested to go to their affiliated websites where many, although not all of the websites, repeatedly describe Rachel’s christian beliefs and make her out to be a Christian martyr.
You are also correct that the funds do not come directly from the school although, what would prevent that? However, the cost of providing supervision by the faculty along with the loss of instructional time should be enough to prevent this program from being held in public schools. It seems to be in violation of the establishment clause of the constitution, where simply the intent to establish a religion by the state is enough to warrant exclusion.
First of all, the presentation seen by middle schoolers was well over an hour and less than 30 seconds was spent on the premonitions. Perhaps the parent presentation was shorter and focused on that more.
Additionally, the cost of having staff supervise is non-existent. They have to be with students anyway. Also, there is always a character ed assembly each year so no extra instructional time was really lost.
I, too, am not a fan of religion in schools in any way, trust me. I have just not seen, as of yet, any religion being brought into the program. If there is, then I will gladly concede your point. Maybe each school handles it differently.