Ankeny High School to host Rachel’s Challenge assembly September 11, 2007; assembly during the day is for students; assembly in the evening is for community

Ankeny High School will have an all-school assembly called Rachel’s Challenge on Tuesday, September 11, 2007. Rachel’s Challenge is a “school assembly and training program that was birthed out of the Columbine High School tragedy in 1999,” according to its website, [1] www.rachelschallenge.com.

According to the website, “Rachel Scott was the first person killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Her acts of kindness and compassion coupled with the contents of her six diaries have become the foundation for one of the most life-changing school programs in America.” The purpose of the program is to motivate students to positive change in the way they treat others.

The assembly will be split into three one-hour sessions so sophomores, juniors and seniors can attend by grade level in the school auditorium. The three individual sessions will be followed by an hour training session for 60 students and some staff with the goal of sustaining “the momentum created by the assembly,” according to the website. From 7:00-8:00. that night, a one-hour session will be conducted for parents and community leaders in the school auditorium. This is open to anyone who wants to attend.

According to the group’s website, “in 2005 Rachel’s Challenge was awarded the Friends of Education award from the state of New York. The school program founded by Mr. Scott [Rachel’s father] has prevented numerous suicides, drastically reduced bullying, and in three known instances prevented a planned school shooting.”

For more information contact Mr. Chris Allen at Ankeny High School, 965-9630 or [2] www.chris.allen@ankenyschools.org