[60][61][62] This began during her funeral on April 24, 1999, which was televised. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. "The days right after you're in so much shock," Scott said. Denver Rocky Mountain News. Spiritual influences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. On Thursday, May 27, 1999, Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School Shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's sub-committee. One initiative to achieve this objective is to establish a "Friends of Rachel" club, to sustain the campaign's goals on an ongoing basis. Joe Fryer is a nationally recognized reporter who works for NBC News as a correspondent based in Los Angeles. COLUMBINE STUDENT'S FATHER 12 YEARS LATER!! All rights reserved. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. The Rachels Challenge presentations are given in schools and communities by members of her family and other speakers, using video footage of the Columbine High School massacre and its aftermath, combined with Rachel Scotts drawings and writings, in a campaign to quell school violence, bullying, and teen suicide. We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. In the aftermath, many schools beefed up security, began holding lockdown drills, and introduced zero tolerance rules meant to thwart massacres by cracking down hard on students who threaten violence. At the beginning of the ceremony, Barry Palser, a pastor from an Assemblies of God organization, gave a speech in which he said she was "one who has given [her] life for the Lord Jesus Christ, a modern-day martyr. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. "[59][n 1] Pastor Bruce Porter delivered a sermon later in the service, in which he called Rachel a "warrior" who carried "a torch that was stained by the blood of the martyrs from the very first day of the Church's existence". He'd read Norman Grubb's writings about the eye of faith that allows us to see through our worst circumstances to God's purpose. [25] Scott's 16-year-old brother, Craig, was also at the school on the day of the massacre; he was in the library where most of the killings occurred; he survived unharmed, although two of his close friends were also murdered. Darrell Scott and Rachels Challenge offer a glimmer of hope following another dark day in modern American history. "And that as we saw it that was having an impact, that was part of our hope.". When we view life through the eyes of faith, we can say, Things appear one way, but my God is sovereign, loving, merciful, and kind. The car was ultimately covered by the objects left upon it by mourners. "My family, we had people showing up to our home, bringing meals," he explained. [64] Porter then requested that others pick up the "torch" in Scott's wake. Participants are trained to perpetuate the chain reaction of kindness envisioned by Scott. Darrell Scott, the Columbine father, and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse, 6, was killed in his first-grade classroom at Sandy Hook, both advocate teaching children social-emotional skills, like . Every morning I wake up, I recite the names of the 13, because theyll always have a special place in my heart, he said. Her father, Darrell Scott, promulgated her devout faith in two books of his own Chain Reaction: A Call to a Compassionate Revolution and 2008's Rachel Smiles: The Spiritual Legacy of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott the latter of which used excerpts from her journals. [26] She is known to have conveyed these aspirations to her family and to have combined her sense of humor into everyday family life with lighthearted gestures such as leaving a message on her family's answering machine stating: "You have reached the residence of Queen Rachel and her servants, Larry, Beth, Dana, Craig, and Michael. WASHINGTON The father of a Columbine shooting victim said he left a Wednesday meeting at the White House with hope that national policymakers were ready to do more about school violence a. Tom Mauser also found his voice after his 15-year-old son, Daniel a straight-A student and a member of the school debate team was killed. "[71] Other sources report that Castaldo had survived by "playing dead". Darrell Scott, whose daughter, Rachel, was killed at Columbine High School in 1999, told the President what he and his wife have learned since then. Foskett, Ken. Randy Alcorn (@randyalcorn) is the author of over sixtybooks and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries. Privacy Policy. What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress was painfully truthful. He also was one of several activists invited to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump after the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre that claimed 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. You want to know what is really going on these days, especially in Colorado. They were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well. Finally, contrary to the coda of the e-mailed account, the "media" did not prevent anyone from hearing Darrell Scott's words. Craig Scott continues to speak and work with schools throughout the country sharing lessons he learned from Columbine. Scott and his family found comfort in these words, and ever since, have used Rachel's message to inspire students around the world with their nonprofit organization, Rachel's Challenge. Its the proverbial thoughts and prayers and really nothing else, he said. Simpson, Kevin. She was posthumously the subject and co-writer of several books and the inspiration for Rachel's Challenge, an international[4][5] school outreach program and the most popular school assembly program in the U.S.[6], The aim of Rachel's Challenge is to advocate Scott's values, based on her life, her journals, and the contents of a two-page essay, penned a month before her murder, entitled My Ethics; My Codes of Life. If you have anything you'd like them to do for me, please leave a message. Today, Scott's personal goal is to try to be a "big brother" or mentor to any student who has been through a school shooting. I'd be here representing her. "I think this year, it's gonna be different because we're spreading the word of both hope and positivity, and love and commitment to give back," he said. Through the more than 50 designated speakers and the international expansion of Rachel's Challenge,[79] the annual international student outreach of the organization is estimated to be in excess of two million. The subcommittee hearing at which he spoke was covered by the Associated Press and reported in several big-city newspapers; in fact, due to intense media interest regarding everything related to the then-recent Columbine shootings, the event actually received much more general media coverage than a House subcommittee hearing typically would have. Graves said he's both anxious and excited by the anniversary. And Im gonna keep their names and their lives alive as long as I can.. "If you take the horrible winding road back through every school massacre, school shooting, it leads back to Columbine and eventually leads back to my daughter, who was the first of close to 200 students now that have been killed over the last 23 years," Scott said. Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee. [48], Craig expressed extreme regret for his last interaction with his sister: slamming a car door at her when being dropped off at school that morning. And ask the question "Why"? The young people of our nation hold the key. In addition, Scott felt support from the entire nation after appearing on TODAY for an interview with Katie Couric on April 22, two days after the massacre. We can help you keep up. On Tuesday, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos entered Robb Elementary School and opened fire on students, killing 19 children and two teachers. Coni Sanders, daughter of Dave Sanders, the slain teacher, said what happened at the Colorado high school changed everything and yet nothing. "[69] Investigations in the years following the shootingespecially Dave Cullen's findings in his book Columbinehave concluded that Klebold and Harris were not targeting people for their religion, ethnicity, or gender. "There's hardening the target, but they're softening the heart," Scott said. Through his grace and empowerment, I will cling to him.". They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. . Experts say copycat shooters often become obsessed with the date of a tragedy that they hope to emulate. Darrell Scott is the father of Rachel Joy Scott, the first of the thirteen victims of the Columbine High School massacre. 2023 Colorado Public Radio. [15] By the age of 17, Rachel, although popular among her peers, would occasionally resist efforts to attend certain social events with her friends out of fear she would succumb to the temptation of drinking alcohol. Scott opened up to Couric about Rachel and the kind of warmhearted person she was. [13] She developed a passion for photography and poetry at an early age. We've done it with a simple story of a young girl who believed in compassion, Rachel Joy Scott. He said he often thinks about the students who were killed, about what kind of grown-ups they would have been. [47] After the killings, Scott's car was turned into an impromptu memorial in the adjacent Clement Park after being moved from the school's parking lot by grieving students. Moreover, unlike the other persons who testified before the Congressional subcommittee that day, Mr. Scott presented no facts or statistics relating to the issues of gun control and gun law enforcement; he merely gave his opinion that gun control laws wouldn't have stopped the Columbine High School shootings and that those shootings were somehow related to a lack of religion in schools (repeating along the way the erroneous claim that prayer has been "outlawed" in schools). And precious children die Theres a difference between forgiveness and pardon. This is what my daughter would have wanted to see. Because when people feel accepted they're not going to do something like Eric and Dylan [the Columbine perpetrators] did. "Parents of Slain Students Differ on Blame for Shootings." She literally has inspired millions of people to continue the chain reaction she started". 13 January 2000 (p. B7). Craig Scott urged viewers on The Oprah Winfrey Show two days later to refrain from too much focus on the shooter, saying "I have found students that actually idolize the two shooters at Columbine We've focused on my sister, who's so compassionate and kind. She was a member of the school's forensics and drama clubs. IE 11 is not supported. A few hours later, two students, 17-year-old Dylan Klebold and 18-year-old Eric Harris, went on a shooting rampage. [64], In the following year's numerous bookstermed "hagiographies" by sociologist Ralph Larkinwere published about Scott and Bernall with the assistance of or authorship by their parents. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA I give to you a sincere challenge. Craig Scott, a survivor, shares his story. But you know what, it's all worth it. Im thankful because it has made me who I am now, he said. And it has given me a platform to be able to speak now into kids lives and make a difference in the here and now.. [32][33][34] In one instance while working there, she felt remorse for not assisting a homeless woman who had come into the store and vowed to be more helpful to such people in the future. "GOP Blocks Democratic Bid to Hasten Gun-Curb Vote." [3] Darrell Scott, Rachel's father, established Rachel's Challenge to perpetuate his daughter's example and the two-page "Code of Ethics" she wrote a month before her death at the hands of the perpetrators of the Columbine High School shooting, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. [15] As of 2008, Craig Scott has spoken to more than one million people in making appearances for Rachel's Challenge, while pursuing a career in filmmaking. Scott wrote in her journals that her spiritual awareness developed greatly through attending this youth group, and she became known as a leading advocate within it. If she were somehow aware of what has happened with her story and her legacy, and to say, 'Nice job, little bro,' that would be pretty cool.". "I think she would be proud of my family," Scott said. 20 October 1999 (p. A1). And it started to eat me up.". Images of heavily armed SWAT teams descending on a school and the sight of students filing out with their hands up were burned into the national consciousness. I don't even know what I have done. Rachels Challenge, a not-for-profit organization inspired by Rachels legacy, works to combat school shootings by focusing efforts on the main causes of youth violence. Darrell Scott traveled around the United States to . The Truth: Mr. Scott's testimony was so powerful that a lot of folks who receive an email about it doubt its authenticity. [106] He notes: "I feel that God has really called me to do this. Some people never heal. The entire family are devout Christians. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Report profane or abusive content Report Video Issue And I asked my wife, What size shoes does, did, Daniel wear?, Told they were size 10, Mauser recalled saying, Thats my size., It suddenly occurred to me, wow, I could be wearing his shoes and walking in his shoes, he said. Scott gave his first high school presentation about Rachel's message when he was 18 years old. The villain was not the club he used. Like many of us, I vividly remember the shock as the events unfolded. Kellman, Laurie. Twenty-four students were injured. As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes He did not hesitate to pray in school. That was the last time he would see her alive. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent. I think to really honor people and to say were really gonna resolve to do something about it, it has to be more than thoughts and prayers.. [8], Rachel Joy Scott was born on August 5, 1981, in Denver, Colorado.