MOUNTAIN VIEW — It is only a short plane ride from the airport in Denver, Colo.; to the airport in Rock Springs, but that short distance brought a story from decades ago of what was at the time the worst school shooting in the United States.

Larry Scott is the uncle of Rachel Joy Scott, the first student shot on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School, and he presented to both MVHS students and at a community event Tuesday night in the MVHS auditorium.   

Scott is one of only two full-time presenters for Rachel’s Challenge, a foundation started by Rachel Scott’s family and dedicated to preserving the memory of Rachel Scott and her message of love and kindness for everyone. Rachel’s Challenge is presented at schools across the U.S. and across the world in an effort to put an end to bullying and to keep students safe. The program is being presented at schools across Wyoming thanks to a grant from the Foster Friess foundation. That foundation sees Rachel’s Challenge as one of its most favorite missions.

Bringing Rachel’s Challenge to the Bridger Valley was also facilitated by Angela Sweep, FCCLA state advisor, “We saw a presentation of Rachel’s Challenge at State FCCLA in November, and I saw an opportunity for the program to come to the Bridger Valley. It is such a powerful program and we wanted students in our area to see it along with students across Wyoming,” Sweep said.

AND IN A SISTER STORY BY SHEILA MCGUIRE, UINTA COUNTY HERALD

“People will never know how far a little kindness can go.” These words were written by teenager Rachel Joy Scott in her final school essay shortly before she became the first victim in the Columbine school shooting nearly two decades ago.

These words are now part of the message to people taking part in Rachel’s Challenge, a program focused on changing school and community cultures by replacing bullying, violence and negativity with kindness and compassion.

Schools in Mountain View and Lyman took part in the Rachel’s Challenge program this week, with student presentations and activities during the school day and an evening presentation for parents and community members held in the Mountain View High School auditorium on Tuesday, Feb. 19...

Rachel had written about her desire to reach out and show kindness to everyone, but especially to three specific groups, including special needs students, students new to the school and students being picked on and bullied. Larry said one particular student who was being bullied reached out to her family to tell them how her kindness and efforts to defend him were directly responsible for saving his life when he decided not to follow through on a plan to kill himself.

Several people in the audience Tuesday evening could be seen wiping away tears and sniffling as Larry shared videos and memories of his niece and spoke about her premonition that she would die at a young age. He asked everyone in attendance to think about the people they loved the most and promise to tell them so. “We take the people we’re closest to for granted,” he said. “We use and abuse them. We need to tell people how much we love them.”