Rachel's Challenge

Can you imagine close to one hundred teens arriving to school an hour early Tuesday in order to pray, play, and promote countless service events? At St. Mary’s, every Tuesday in the O'Brien Lecture Hall you can find these students inspired by the example of Rachel Joy Scott, who said:

I have a theory that if one person will go out of their way to show kindness and compassion then it will start a chain reaction of the same

About Rachel’s Challange

Rachel Joy Scott was the first victim of Columbine shootings on April 20, 1999. Immediately after the tragedy her father began to speak and used writings and drawing from Rachel’s diaries to illustrate the need for a kinder more compassionate nation.

More than 18 million people have been touched by Rachel’s message. St. Mary’s is grateful to say we were the first school on the North Shore to begin Rachel’s Challenge and it has been a thriving program since its inception in 2007.

Service & Community Outreach

Since piloting the program in 2007, the Rachel’s Challenge group has become the heart and soul of St. Mary's Christian Service Projects. More than one hundred students gather at 7:15 a.m. on Tuesday mornings throughout the year to create a chain reaction of kindness and compassion in our school and greater community.

Service Projects our students participate in (not an exhaustive list):

  • Welcoming Committee to greet students with a smile in order to start a chain reaction of kindness
  • March for Life
  • Walk for Hunger
  • Walk for HAWC
  • My Brother's Table serving meals
  • Bridge House Family Shelter holiday project
  • Hat and Mitten Drive
  • Gift-filled Christmas stockings
  • Christmas presents
  • CenterBoard reading to younger children
  • Boys & Girls Club
  • Mass. Coalition for the Homeless
  • Local YMCA
  • Lynn Raw Arts
  • St. Mary’s Food Pantry
  • Peer Leadership
  • Mass. Coalition for the Homeless
  • Camp Sunshine
  • Bread for St. Theresa House
  • Soul Food
  • Adopt a Grandparent
  • Canned Food Drive
  • Bi-weekly tutoring for lower income students
  • Girls Inc.
  • Gregory House
  • A Women’s Concern