Ten years ago today, the lives of many people were changed as the result of the tragedy we now refer to simply as "Columbine".  Understandably, the lives of the families and friends of the thirteen people who died as a result of the events at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado felt a tremendous impact, as did those who were injured, those who found themselves staring at a gun pointed in their faces, those who crouched under tables or desks or anything that might provide what they hoped was protection from the bullets and watched others become victims of those bullets.....those who were able to flee the building but were privy to the screams for help, the explosions, the rounds of gunfire...those families and friends who heard about the terror taking place at the high school where their loved ones were supposed to be in class, just as they were during any other "normal" day...those emergency response workers who arrived on the scene and did their best to do whatever it was that could be done....those reporters and cameramen who quickly descended on the scene, eagerly trying to get the scoop and the gory, tantalizing details...those 911 operators who answered the frantic calls from people both inside and outside the school, trying to gather information and piece together details of the situation...those watching the events unfold, live, on television, imagining what those students, teachers, parents, policemen must be feeling and thinking - believing nothing like this could or would ever happen where they lived...

Other "school shootings" had taken place in years prior to Columbine but none had the impact on individuals, schools, and communities that this did.  It was, after all, the largest number of people killed in an incident of this type at that time.  Thirteen dead (including the shooters)...an unthinkable number!!!  But should it take a "large number" to get our attention?   To cause outrage in us? 

I clearly recall turning on my television after I got home from school that afternoon, having heard only snippets of information about what was taking place at Columbine, and being stunned by what I saw and heard.  I had watched news coverage of other school shooting incidents but once the coverage stopped, usually after a day or two, I moved on much the same as others did.  Those prior events had been small, seemingly isolated situations.  I definitely had taken note of them, chatted with others about them, and was upset that such events were taking place. The impact on me that day, however, was immediate for several reasons.  At the time I was a high school teacher and it didn't take much imagination to put myself in the places of the faculty and staff at Columbine.  I am a mother and it also wasn't difficult for me to think about my own children possibly being in such a situation.  I also have a connection with Colorado having lived and taught there in the Colorado Springs area.  I knew some people who taught in the Denver area (Littleton is a suburb of Denver) and I hoped beyond all hope that no one I knew was at Columbine High School.  This also meant I was truly hoping that my children's high school age cousin wasn't involved as I knew his family lived in the Denver suburbs but wasn't sure which school he attended.  And simply as a human being trying to comprehend what could cause two high school students to walk into that school and open fire as they did...I knew the reason would never make any sense to me or justify their actions, but it left an indelible mark on my soul because I can't imagine the pain, fear, anger, or whatever the feelings that would cause anyone to do this to other human beings.

I have that same feeling about many things I see and hear around me...a foot away, across the street, on television and radio, in newspapers, online...from people I know and people I don't know.

I can't say that Columbine is what motivated me to do the work I do, and have been doing for years now, but it certainly has a role in it.  I had already begun early work on awareness and diversity programming, and this certainly added to my conviction that more was needed...even in the relatively small, rural high school in which I was teaching.   The world reacted strongly to the events of April 20, 1999, and good has come out of this tragic event.  There are many programs that have evolved from the debris of Columbine and one I've worked with is doing important programming with several issues. Rachel's Challenge is a powerful program and an organization that is expanding its outreach continuously:  http://www.rachelschallenge.org.  The organization was founded in honor of Rachel Scott, the first person shot and killed at Columbine.  Rachel believed in the power of showing compassion and kindness to others and that in living these values, "You might just start a chain reaction."    

The same is true of too many other events in our country and in other parts of the world as well....reaction causing us to take action to try to prevent such things from happening again.  Nothing wrong with that...but it's time to do more proactively so lives don't have to be lost or damaged to get us to pay attention!!!  We must pay attention to what is going on around us and become active to help each other understand and respect diversity... and acknowlege our differences as being worth CELEBRATING!!!

Peace,

Deb