Rachel Scott

Rachel Joy Scott (August 5, 1981 – April 20, 1999) was an American student who was the first fatality of the Columbine High School massacre, in which 11 other students and a teacher were also murdered by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who then committed suicide.

Scott's belief in Christianity and the circumstances of her death have led to her being remembered by groups of evangelical Christians as a Christian martyr.

She was posthumously the subject and co-writer of several books and the inspiration for Rachel's Challenge, an international school outreach program and the most popular school assembly program in the U.S.

The aim of Rachel's Challenge is to advocate Scott's values, based on her life, her journals, and the contents of a two-page essay, penned a month before her murder, entitled My Ethics; My Codes of Life.

This essay advocates her belief in compassion being "the greatest form of love humans have to offer".

Rachel Joy Scott was born on August 5, 1981, in Denver, Colorado.

She was the third of five children born to Darrell Scott and Beth (née Nimmo) Scott.

The entire family are devout Christians.

Her father was a pastor at a church in Lakewood, Colorado, and worked as a sales manager for a Denver-based food company; her mother was a homemaker.

Rachel's parents divorced in 1988; they maintained a cordial relationship and held joint custody of the children.

When Scott was 11 in March 1993, she visited the church that her aunt and uncle attended in Shreveport, Louisiana, and chose to commit herself to Christianity.

The following year, Beth and her children relocated to Littleton, Colorado, where she remarried in 1995.

As a child, Scott was an energetic, sociable girl, who displayed concern for the well-being of others, particularly if they were downcast or otherwise in need.

She developed a passion for photography and poetry at an early age.

Rachel attended Dutch Creek Elementary School and Ken Caryl Middle School before she enrolled in Columbine High School in the ninth grade.

At Columbine, she was an attentive, above-average student who displayed a flair for music, acting, drama, and debate.

She was a member of the school's forensics and drama clubs.

Acting did not initially come easily to her, and she had to devote extra effort to succeed in this activity.

By April 1998, when she was at Columbine High School, five of her closest friends had distanced themselves from her because of her increasing commitment to her faith.

Furthermore, because of her faith, she was occasionally subjected to mockery by several of her peers.

Rachel documented this in a letter to a relative a year to the day before her death.

The letter included the words: "Now that I have begun to walk my talk, they make fun of me. I don't even know what I have done. I don't even have to say anything, and they turn me away. I have no more personal friends at school. But you know what, it's all worth it."

On many occasions throughout Scott's adolescence, her family observed her in prayer both at home and at church.

Her mother said that her daughter would regularly pray on her knees, with her head bowed, her hands upon her face, and that often, these particular prayer rituals brought tears to Scott's eyes.

On one occasion, this included writing a prayer for one of the future perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre.

By the age of 17, Scott was an attendee of three churches: Celebration Christian Fellowship; Orchard Road Christian Center; and Trinity Christian Center, where she choreographed dances at Sunday service.

She was also an active member of church youth groups; at the Orchard Road Christian Center, she attended a youth group named "Breakthrough", where she displayed a passionate interest in both evangelism and discipleship.

Scott wrote in her journals that her spiritual awareness developed greatly through attending this youth group, and she became known as a leading advocate within it.

Scott struggled with self-esteem issues as a teenager, and has been described by her family as being "blind to her own beauty".

By the age of 17, Rachel, although popular among her peers, would occasionally resist efforts to attend certain social events with her friends out of fear she would succumb to the temptation of drinking alcohol.

In her mid-teens, Scott had a serious relationship with a boy, but she chose to end it over concerns that it might develop into a physical encounter.

According to friends, Scott often chose to wear clothes of a style reflecting her colorful personality, and occasionally wore eccentric hats, fedoras, or even pajamas to amuse her companions.

In addition to her passion for fashion, music, and photography, she was an avid viewer of classic movies, and often spoke of her desire to become a renowned Hollywood actress.

She is known to have conveyed these aspirations to her family and to have combined her sense of humor into everyday family life with lighthearted gestures such as leaving a message on her family's answering machine stating: "You have reached the residence of Queen Rachel and her servants, Larry, Beth, Dana, Craig, and Michael. If you have anything you'd like them to do for me, please leave a message."

Scott was an aspiring writer and actress.

In 1998, she performed a mime act to the song "Watch the Lamb" at the school talent show.

The tape jammed halfway through the song and Dylan Klebold, who ran audio for the school theater production club, came to her rescue and fixed the tape, leading her to thank him afterwards.

Rachel's sister would later perform the same mime act at her funeral.

In order to repay her parents for the Acura Legend they had given her, Scott worked at a Subway sandwich shop on West Coal Mine Avenue in Littleton shortly before she died.

In one instance while working there, she felt remorse for not assisting a homeless woman who had come into the store and vowed to be more helpful to such people in the future.