In October of 2024, an assembly was held in Stroudsburg High School to present a challenge, to spread kindness in a world with a deficit of it. This is Rachel’s Challenge.

Rachel’s Challenge is an organization whose goal is to spread kindness in school environments in honor of Rachel Joy Scott, a student who was tragically killed in Columbine High School in 1999. The organization has visited many schools to spread the messages that Scott didn’t get to.

Scott once said, “Compassion is the greatest form of love humans have to offer. I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go.”

Stroudsburg’s Students Against Destructive Decisions(SADD) and Avedium club made a decision to join forces and bring more kindness to Stroudsburg High School through the Friends of Rachel Club.

“It fills me with joy and hope to see students unite in kindness. Creating something like the kindness chain shows the power of the school community, empathy, and positive action,” says Jennifer Laskowski, Aevidum Advisor. “It reminds me how small acts can inspire big change and foster a caring and supportive environment for everyone.”

On the week of May 5, 2025, the club had started a Chain Reaction of Kindness. Students were given strips of paper during homeroom. They were advised to write one act of kindness they did in the past weekend. At the end of the week, these filled-out papers were linked together. They did plan to have positive music every day that week but, that was shut down due to advanced placement testing.

Student’s kind acts were displayed in the hallways as a chain. All of the acts written down on these papers, big or small, made an impact on a large scale.