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<\/a>VWES fourth-grade teacher Abbey Craft said that, while the Rachel\u2019s Challenge program, named for Rachel Joy Scott, the first victim of the April 20, 1999, shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, does a great job of combatting bullying, she and guidance counselors Angie Murphy and Mark Collins wanted to do a program that would not talk about bullying at all, but provide an incentive for students to do good and help others.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that bullying can be a huge issue, and we want to prevent that,\u201d Craft said, adding, \u201cWe decided to take a different spin on it: not necessarily focus on bullying, because we don\u2019t really want to highlight that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Organizers came up with a more positive way to promote good behavior from students, creating a green wristband that says \u201cI AM A HERO\u201d that they plan to distribute to students nominated for helping others.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to (honor) the kids who are going above and beyond to help others,\u201d Craft said, adding that students recognized would also be the only ones given an opportunity to sign the school \u201cRachel\u2019s Challenge\u201d banner located in the school commons area.<\/p>\n
Organizers of the VWES program noted that, after talking to students at a school where everyone signed the banner, they felt students having to earn the honor of signing the banner would provide more of an impact than allowing all students to sign it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose students (where everyone signed it) didn\u2019t think it was that much of a big deal,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n
Craft said the Rachel\u2019s Challenge program at VWES is initially limited to students in fourth and fifth grades.<\/p>\n