KINGSTON — It is amazing the difference a simple act of kindness can make.

Oftentimes, the push for human goodness is washed out in the sea of an increasingly violent world.

However, every now and again, a shining example rises to the surface, beaming a ray of hope for a better place.

Rachel Scott — the first student to die in the infamous 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado — is one such illumination.

Scott’s family has been relaying her beliefs in human goodness through an assembly called “Rachel’s Challenge,” which aims to encourage and empower students to live positively.

“Rachel lived a life filled with kindness and compassion, and because of it, she’s changed the world,” said Rachel’s brother, Craig Scott.

Wednesday, Rachel’s Challenge will aim to “change the world” in Kingston.

“I think it needs to be promoted in the school, promoted in the community and promoted by parents,” Kingston Junior High Associated Student Body co-sponsor Su-A Stevens said of ethics. “If we all come together on this, we are going to have a more productive Kingston, a more productive North Kitsap.”

Kingston Junior High’s ASB is leading the charge to promote and encourage tolerance in the school. As a part of that quest, it is hosting Rachel’s Challenge for students and the community Nov. 15.

In addition to the school-day assembly, the Rachel’s Challenge crew will be holding a follow-up session with a group of 50 select students and teachers to “sustain the momentum created by the assembly.”

Then those student and teacher leaders will further the discussion into advisory classrooms at KJH.

“I think the kids will get the emotional aspect of this, but if we don’t have strong leaders in our schools — not just to know it but to live it — then we’ve lost it,” Stevens said.

“(Rachel’s Challenge) touches to the core of what people believe in, and hopefully it will help encourage and empower people to do what is right,” said Kingston Junior High ASB co-sponsor Karla Laubach.

The school-day assembly isn’t a plot to fix a culture that is broken at KJH, she said, but rather a means to enhance the positive things which are happening.

The community assembly will deliver the same message, beckoning residents to build upon their strengths.

“See what you can become and who you can touch and what you can affect with positive action,” Laubach said.

“Even though Rachel was my little sister, I am the one looking up to her,” said Bethanee Scott.