Stowsentry.com - Front Row Seat: Rachel's Challenge can have positive impact on students

Nicole Nowlen

Front Row Seat: by Associate Editor Mike Lesko

Nicole Nowlen was in the school library on that tragic day -- April 20, 1999 -- when 12 students and one teacher were killed during the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

Nowlen was shot once but hit nine times with buckshot from a sawed-off shotgun. She had burns on the back of her arm because the gun was so close to her.

Somehow, she survived.

As she hid under a library table that day when the shooting began, a male student held her hand and told her everything would be OK. Seconds later, he was shot and killed.

"I had a lot of nightmares at one point," she said. "But most of us came back to school that fall.

"So why talk about this horrible thing?" she asked an auditorium full of students and teachers at Stow-Munroe Falls High School Feb. 23.

"Because I've seen the good," she said. "It has helped and healed me. Because the things that Rachel stood for can help us all."

Rachel Scott, a student who was the first person killed during the shootings, was filled with a joyous spirit of wanting to reach out and help others.

After the tragedy, Rachel's family started a program based on an essay they found that she had written on how she thought an act of kindness could start a chain reaction.

Nowlen is helping to carry on Rachel's cause by speaking to students and adults across the country.

She did that in late February at two community events at the high school and Kimpton Middle School along with four school assemblies -- two at the high school, one at the middle school and one at Lakeview Intermediate School.

Nowlen, who graduated from Columbine in 2001, shared the ideas involved in Rachel's Challenge, which includes five items:

* Look for the best in others. Eliminate prejudice.

"Give people a chance before you label them," Nowlen told the audience. "You never know the impact you can have on them by looking for the best in them."

* Dare to dream. Set goals. Keep a journal.

Nowlen said Rachel left six journals behind. She said Rachel wrote in one of them: "I write for the sake of my soul. I won't be labeled as average."

* Choose positive influences. Input determines output.

"What you do affects not only you, but also people around you," Nowlen said.

Nowlen paused, then said, "I can see some of you out there in the audience folding your arms ... I'm not going to tell you what to do, but influences really do affect us."

Nowlen said Rachel tried to reach out to students who were disabled, new to the school or those who were being bullied, picked on or teased.

Nowlen said one boy who was being bullied by other students felt despondent until Rachel showed kindness and compassion toward him.

"You don't know what kind of an impact you can have on people," Nowlen said. "Words have the power to hurt -- and to heal."

* Kind words. Little acts of kindness. Huge results.

Nowlen said Rachel wrote: "I had my ups and downs, and I fell a few times, but I did not give up. Don't give up ... Look hard enough and you will always find the light."

* Start a chain reaction.

Nowlen said Rachel challenged people to talk to 5-7 of their friends or write a letter telling them what those people meant to them.

Now, Nowlen is helping to create a chain reaction through Rachel's words and actions.

"In a lot of ways," Nowlen added, "Rachel has had an impact on the world."

For more information, go to the Web site at: www.rachelschallenge.org.

E-mail: mlesko@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-686-3917