North Lamar F.O.R. Students Visit Columbine HS

Two officers of North Lamar High School’s F.O.R. Club, Kristen Hodges and Jessi Wideman, traveled to Littleton, Colorado, in April with sponsor Jan Bell. Their mission was to visit Columbine High School and the Rachel’s Challenge office to learn more about Rachel Scott, the first person killed at Columbine on April 20, 1999. It was her acts of kindness and compassion coupled with the contents of her six diaries that became the foundation for one of the most life-changing school programs in America, Friends of Rachel (F.O.R.).

While at Columbine, North Lamar’s group toured the high school and sat in on Tom Tonelli’s sociology class where they were able to ask questions and dispel many of the myths about that tragic day. Later they went to Columbine Memorial at Clement Park and visited the burial sites of Rachel Scott and Corey DePooter and the thirteen granite crosses in honor of the teacher and twelve students that were also killed. Another important stop was at the Rachel’s Challenge office where the three toured and learned more about Rachel Scott, the birth of the F.O.R. (Friends of Rachel) Club, Challenge Day, and a new curriculum created in part by Darrell Scott called “Awaken the Learner.”