Rachel’s Challenge Campaign

My daughter’s school had their Rachel’s challenge kick-off event last night. My daughter got extra credit for going to the event but of course I was going to jump on the chance to go with her and hopefully hear some information straight from the Scott family themselves.  A lady claiming to be a close family friend (Nasha, don’t know her last name) was the speaker at the event.  Most of the information relayed I had heard before.  However, there was some new information that I wanted to share with this forum just to confirm if it was accurate or not. 
1.        They showed a picture of Rachel’s journal.  I know some have speculated as to whether this was real or not.  The outside cover of her journal actually has a bullet hole just under the I will not be labeled as average quote.  I had not noticed this prior to last night.  
2.       It was stated that Dave Sanders was actually running up the stairs to confront Eric and Dylan when he was seen in the cafeteria video footage.  My understanding was that he was attempting to get as many students to safety as possible.  I have never found any information stating that he had intentions of confronting the two shooters.  It was also stated that he was shot in the back when running from Eric and Dylan after he realized they were not going to drop their guns.  I have not found any information supporting this theory either.  
3.       Two different students from Columbine wrote the Scotts after Rachel’s death to tell how she had impacted their life.  
a.       One was a girl named Amber who was a new transfer to Columbine from Georgia.  On her first day she entered the cafeteria to find somewhere to sit. All of the tables were crowded with cliques or groups of friends.  She chose a table with a group of girls who immediately scoffed at her.  They started picking on her and then got up and left.  Rachel noticed this and came to sit down with Amber.  She stated what was the worst day of her life quickly turned into the best day of her life.  She also stated that what Rachel had not known was that her mother had just died in a car accident in Georgia.  So while she was dealing with being a new student, she also was still dealing with the tragic loss of her mother. 
b.      Another student who was special needs, I do not remember his name, was being picked on in the halls one day by two larger boys.  Rachel noticed the two boys picking on him so she walked in between the two guys and the special needs student.  She put her fists up and stated, if you want to pick him on some more you will have to go through me first.  The two boys then left.  This student told the Scotts that she not only saved his life that day but she saved him in another way.  He was going to go home that afternoon and kill himself because he didn’t think anyone would ever care about him. He also told the Scotts that Rachel made a point to speak to him every time she saw him and she also got her friends to do the same.  
 
After hearing all of the information that was relayed last night, I believe that Rachel was a genuine compassionate soul who often wore her heart on her sleeve.  By the end of the assembly, there wasn’t a dry eye in the auditorium.  I commend the Scotts on trying to make schools a better place, even though I feel some of their information may contain inaccuracies.  

I remember when Rachel's Challenge came to my school. None of the Scott family was there but just a representative or something. Also,

1. This fact was in the 13 families (fyi)
2. Wasn't Dave Sanders immediately shot right after he left the cafeteria in the CTV footage?

I haven’t seen 13 families yet.  And yes I believe it was very shortly after he ran up the stairs that he was shot.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I'm sure someone posted a link to the full documentary somewhere on this forum but I'm not 100% sure where. You have to watch it, it's such a good documentary

My sister was one of Rachel's close friends for a while, one of the "popular mean girls" before she really started expanding her friends circle and living her Christian faith deal. The thing gets my sister is she says there was soooo much more to her than just being Christian and "nice". She truly cared, truly listened, really made everyone feel important. Nut she was also a normal teenage girl. She might have wrote about her faith but she didn't really talk about it. Apparently most of her writing wasn't religious either, there was soooo much of it and the few pieces her parents show in to the public barely scratched the surface. She really wasn't close with her family. Craig was a huge jerk before the shooting
She says she was amazing but very different than the public persona her parents peddle.

milennialrebelette wrote:

My sister was one of Rachel's close friends for a while, one of the "popular mean girls" before she really started expanding her friends circle and living her Christian faith deal. The thing gets my sister is she says there was soooo much more to her than just being Christian and "nice". She truly cared, truly listened, really made everyone feel important. Nut she was also a normal teenage girl. She might have wrote about her faith but she didn't really talk about it. Apparently most of her writing wasn't religious either, there was soooo much of it and the few pieces her parents show in to the public barely scratched the surface. She really wasn't close with her family. Craig was a huge jerk before the shooting
She says she was amazing but very different than the public persona her parents peddle.

That is the feeling I have gotten too. Especially after hearing her friends talk about her funeral not really being about Rachel and the boycott most of her friends did for the movie I'm Not Ashamed.

I would have loved to have heard her poem about having sex with a piece of toast.

What did your sister think of the movie? Also I am curious and please know I don't want to overstep but does she think there was any validity to Dylan's crush on Rachel? I feel like her family tries to play that up and make the massacre even more tragic (more so than it already is) by trying to make it out to be a story of unrequited love.

milennialrebelette wrote:

My sister was one of Rachel's close friends for a while, one of the "popular mean girls" before she really started expanding her friends circle and living her Christian faith deal. The thing gets my sister is she says there was soooo much more to her than just being Christian and "nice". She truly cared, truly listened, really made everyone feel important. Nut she was also a normal teenage girl. She might have wrote about her faith but she didn't really talk about it. Apparently most of her writing wasn't religious either, there was soooo much of it and the few pieces her parents show in to the public barely scratched the surface. She really wasn't close with her family. Craig was a huge jerk before the shooting
She says she was amazing but very different than the public persona her parents peddle.

I remember following a close friend of Rachel's on Facebook and she made a FB post in 2013 about her. She said she knew Rachel her whole high school life and never knew she was a Christian. And when she read Rachel's Tears she was floored to hear she was one. She then proceeded to trash the Scotts as portraying Rachel differently to how her friends knew her.

Wait having sex with a piece of toast where does that come from, or is it a joke?

Giga143 wrote:

Wait having sex with a piece of toast where does that come from, or is it a joke?

I too, must inquire about this

It's possible (and highly likely) that Rachel showed different aspects of herself to her family than she did at school. She struggled at school. She felt like she could not express her faith. Her diaries are full of consternation concerning this fact. Isn't it more likely that her family is sharing the Rachel they knew and loved? And friends, like any friends, would see a different aspect naturally?

I lived entire adventures in high school and my mom still doesn't know anything about it to this day. If she made a movie about me, my friends would think she was nuts. If my friends made a movie about me, my mom would think THEY were nuts.

I think it's a bit much to jump to the conclusion that there is an intentional portrayal of Rachel as someone she wasn't. There seems to be a lot of hatred for showing her as someone who was deeply religious. Her faith is the foundation of her actions, regardless of whether she shared that faith with other people at school. The fact that she didn't is a bigger testament to her legacy.

There's so much nitpicking about the details that everyone got "wrong" (as if any of us know anything about what actually happened - we weren't there) and the bigger message is being completely missed.

I'm still curious about the whole toast thing.

Pics or it didn't happen.

Giga143 wrote:

I'm still curious about the whole toast thing.

It’s from Devon Adams


"There’s a standard story. Almost a script now, after so many years, but still a story then. The confusion, chaos, uncertainty, fear, running, screaming, searching, calling out. Being found, being lost. The numbness and the rain and the lights and the insensitivity. So much so fast.
"Then I told him about other things, things that happened before. My Subway sandwich disappearing and Rachel being so upset. The expressive way she spoke - so expressive that it literally blew her skirt off. Her speech piece about having sex with a piece of toast. That she had been liked by everyone but her family until after her death. At least, that’s what we thought. That I had lost it at her funeral and laughed and laughed as they played the theme from Titanic, her most-hated song. And that she had been friends with the boy who had a hand in killing her. That he wasn’t a monster until that day. And that I hadn’t just lost her, I had lost him. And, while I got to say goodbye to Rachel, Dylan had been buried without any friends near him. I had betrayed him, and in the process, I had betrayed something inside myself.”
—Devon Adams
September 30, 2008

Screamingophelia wrote:

Giga143 wrote:

I'm still curious about the whole toast thing.

It’s from Devon Adams


"There’s a standard story. Almost a script now, after so many years, but still a story then. The confusion, chaos, uncertainty, fear, running, screaming, searching, calling out. Being found, being lost. The numbness and the rain and the lights and the insensitivity. So much so fast.
"Then I told him about other things, things that happened before. My Subway sandwich disappearing and Rachel being so upset. The expressive way she spoke - so expressive that it literally blew her skirt off. Her speech piece about having sex with a piece of toast. That she had been liked by everyone but her family until after her death. At least, that’s what we thought. That I had lost it at her funeral and laughed and laughed as they played the theme from Titanic, her most-hated song. And that she had been friends with the boy who had a hand in killing her. That he wasn’t a monster until that day. And that I hadn’t just lost her, I had lost him. And, while I got to say goodbye to Rachel, Dylan had been buried without any friends near him. I had betrayed him, and in the process, I had betrayed something inside myself.”
—Devon Adams
September 30, 2008

It always hits me just how much guilt it seems Devon had/still has over not going to Dylan's funeral.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

Giga143 wrote:

I'm still curious about the whole toast thing.

It’s from Devon Adams


"There’s a standard story. Almost a script now, after so many years, but still a story then. The confusion, chaos, uncertainty, fear, running, screaming, searching, calling out. Being found, being lost. The numbness and the rain and the lights and the insensitivity. So much so fast.
"Then I told him about other things, things that happened before. My Subway sandwich disappearing and Rachel being so upset. The expressive way she spoke - so expressive that it literally blew her skirt off. Her speech piece about having sex with a piece of toast. That she had been liked by everyone but her family until after her death. At least, that’s what we thought. That I had lost it at her funeral and laughed and laughed as they played the theme from Titanic, her most-hated song. And that she had been friends with the boy who had a hand in killing her. That he wasn’t a monster until that day. And that I hadn’t just lost her, I had lost him. And, while I got to say goodbye to Rachel, Dylan had been buried without any friends near him. I had betrayed him, and in the process, I had betrayed something inside myself.”
—Devon Adams
September 30, 2008

It always hits me just how much guilt it seems Devon had/still has over not going to Dylan's funeral.

I think that might be something that is really hard to get over and not telling him how much she loved him on prom night

I still don't get the toast thing. I guess Devon would have to provide more context.

I agree with EthanEmerson, I think that Rachel's parents and friends simply knew, or were more familiar with, different sides of her. We're all multidimensional people. I feel that Rachel, being a relatively typical highschooler, was probably struggling to find her exact place among the various influences in her life.