Shallowater School Fights to Stop Bullying

Tomorrow night Shallowater students and Coach Matthew Hoelscher will challenge the community to stop bullying.

"It's going to impact everybody," Hoelscher said. "Not just the kids in Shallowater, not just the community of Shallowater, but the community of Lubbock county

Rachels challenge, a national program to prevent bullying, was inspired by an essay written by Rachel Joy Scott, the first victim in the 1999 Columbine shooting.

"In the paper she challenged her reader just show some acts of compassion and kindness," Hoelscher said. "And you never know, you may just start a chain reaction."

Taelor, Nicki and Isabella were only 3 years old when Rachel died, but her legacy is what inspired them to be leaders in their school.

"People don't really understand how serious bullying is at times," the girls said. "But some people really are affected by it in a negative way."  

"You know you wake up every morning and you get to choose if you are going to be compassionate and kind, or if you are going to live your life with a grudge on you shoulder," Hoelscher said.

Hoelscher said he wants to reach all types of kids, so he is getting help from former Texas Tech Quarterback Cody Hodges.

"Who are the people that you really want to hit that are sometimes hard to hit," Hoelscher said.  "And lets be honest, it's a big 300 lb offensive lineman and who's going to get them better than a former Texas Tech quarterback."

Hoelscher said the program is not just for students, he said he too went through Rachel's Challenge.

"It changed me as an educator," Hoelscher said. "Now I think about what I say in the classroom because you never know how a kid is going to react to what your going to say."