Students teach peers to ‘pay it forward’

One good deed can spur another and another and another.

Shannon Brock

Students in Amanda Jacobson’s leadership class at Spencer County Middle School show a presentation encouraging other students to ‘pay it forward’ through acts of kindness.

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Shannon Brock

Sixth-grade students in Mrs. Butler’s class raise their hands to indicate their interest in signing a pledge to do something kind for others and set a good example.

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That was the message sixth-graders in Amanda Jacobson’s leadership class taught their peers Monday.
The students shared the story of Rachel Scott, the first student shot and killed at Columbine High School almost exactly 13 years ago.
Rachel’s family created “Rachel’s Challenge,” which urges others to create a “chain reaction of kindness and compassion,” according to the website www.rachelschallenge.org.
Jacobson’s leadership students spoke about Rachel and the concept of “paying it forward.”
For example, the students showed a video where a construction worker helps a child who has fallen off of his skateboard, that child goes on to help someone else in need through a small act of kindness and within a matter of minutes, the construction worker who started the chain reaction was on the receiving end of a kind act.
Zachry Fawbush, an SCMS sixth-grader, encouraged others to learn about Rachel’s Challenge.
“Find out how far one act can go,” he said.
“Rachel’s Challenge is not to stop bullying, but to [set an example] through acts of kindness,” said sixth-grader Dodge Wernert.
Students will have the opportunity to sign a pledge to pay it forward, and those who do so can sign their name to a colorful strip of a paper, which will be added to a paper chain. Once the chain is complete, it will hang in the great hall at the middle school as a visual reminder of their commitment.
“One act of kindness can go a long way,” said sixth-grader Madelyn Weeks.