The district has been under scrutiny since the death of Fairfield Middle School student Emilie Olsen, who took her own life last December. Her family has said bullying was a factor in her death. However, plans had already been in motion to bring the program to Fairfield before the tragedy, said Amanda Schur, a guidance counselor at the high school. Visitors to the district's website, see a pop-up notice for Rachel's Challenge before being able to navigate anywhere else on the site.
“When Kira Murphy and I became co-advisors for Student Government at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, we began discussing ways the students involved could make a difference in the building, including doing a school-wide project. When I mentioned this idea to the students, they researched it and decided it was something they wanted to pursue,” she said.
School begins for Fairfield on Aug. 20. Schur said the district wanted to hold the program this month “to start the school year off on a positive note and spread kindness throughout the building and student body.
“The students felt it would be more effective to do it at the beginning of the year instead of the middle or the end of the school year. While anti-bullying is a part of this program, the true message is about spreading kindness,” Schur said. “This is what really grabbed the attention of the student government members.”
Fairfield’s class presentation will be done for the high school and the middle school, said Peter DeAnello, an event manager for Rachel’s Challenge. Both the school and the public presentation are based on Rachel Scott’s diaries, which had extensive notes on kindness, compassion and character.
“We want to effect a culture change so that these tragedies won’t continue to happen,” said DeAnello.
The cost to bring in Rachel’s Challenge is $4,800, which is being paid for by the student government, said district spokeswoman Gina Gentry-Fletcher.
Rachel's Challenge has been to Butler County before, having visited Hamilton, Lakota and Ross schools. To ensure that the program has an impact after Rachel's Challenge has left the school, students are asked to form groups called "Friends of Rachel" to sustain her message of kindness, DeAnello said.
Schur said it is her hope that the program “will teach the students that being kind and accepting others is a way of life. That everyone has something positive to offer the world.”
Because the public program contains details of the shooting, Rachel’s Challenge recommends that students 11 and under not attend, DeAnello said.
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