IN Peters Township December 2018/January 2019 | Page 77

wide kickoff event attended by more than 1,000 members of our
community.
The overall goal of the program is to positively impact the
lives of our students both inside the classroom and throughout
the community. Repeated security trainings with the FBI and the
Peters Township Police Department have stressed that making
a connection with students who are on the verge of committing
these terrible acts of violence is the best way to prevent them
from happening.
Part of the program includes the creation of Friends of Rachel
Clubs for students in 5th through 12th grades. These students
are provided with training to lead the effort in reaching out
to other students and creating a positive culture to help stop
school violence.
While it is just getting started in our schools, great things are
already happening. As a first step, students and community
members were asked to sign banners as a pledge that they have
taken Rachel’s Challenge to start a chain reaction of kindness in