More than 13 years after two high school students gunned down their classmates at Columbine High School, the story of one victim continues to influence millions of students with the message to “start a chain reaction of kindness.”

Rachel Scott was the first student killed at the school on April 20, 1999. Someone who stood up for others and made an effort to include people on the fringe, Scott left behind a legacy that her family continues to share through the organization Rachel’s Challenge. Rachel’s father, Darell Scott, founded the anti-bullying and violence program in 2000.

Every two years, a representative from the nonprofit visits Old Rochester Regional Junior High to give students five challenges from Scott's life: get rid of prejudice, dream big, choose positive influences, speak with kindness, and extend kind acts to others.

This year, Jim Kennedy spoke to the auditorium full of students.

"If you listen to your heart today, I promise you'll look at the world a little differently," said Kennedy.

Students viewed testimonies from Scott's friends and heard excerpts from her journal. "I won't be labeled as average," wrote Scott.

Kennedy encouraged the students to do the same, and to go out of their way to show kindness to others.

"[Rachel] went out of her way to show kindness," he said, citing examples of Scott sitting with a new girl in the cafeteria and stopping the harassment of a student with special needs. "She treated everybody as she wanted to be treated."

Kennedy led students in a powerful thought exercise at the presentation’s end. With their eyes closed, Kennedy asked students to imagine five important people in their lives. It could be a parent, family member, teacher, coach, or anybody who is special to them.

He encouraged students to meet with those people in the next three days.

“Speak to them from the heart and tell them how much you love them. Rachel's story reminds us that everyday is a gift,” Kennedy said. “Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.”

Afterwards many students wiped away tears.

“That was me,” said Haleydawn Amato. An eighth grade student, she said she took the presentation’s lessons to heart.

Kennedy said the final closed-eye exercise elicits a strong response from the crowd, regardless of age. The emotion tells him that the message is getting through, he said. A teacher in Rhode Island, he was inspired to participate in Rachel’s Challenge after a presentation at his school.

Rachel’s story also left an impression on eighth grade students Jackson Owens and Ellie Wiggins.

Ellie said the event left her thinking about the five challenges: “I thought the whole presentation was pretty deep.”

Jackson was impressed by Rachel’s attitude towards acceptance. “She didn’t care what others thought and stood up for everyone,” Jackson said.

After Rachel's Challenge presentations, Kennedy said schools often see a change in how students treat each other.

"Disrespect goes down. Bullying goes down," he said.

For more information on Rachel’s Challenge, visit www.rachelschallenge.org.