KINGSTON — Less than a year after tragedy struck at Kingston Junior High in the form of two student deaths over the course of one week, another school related catastrophe rocked its gymnasium Tuesday.

Only this time, it came in the form of video footage from the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School. It was presented as part of the “Rachel’s Challenge” assembly, which spoke to the power of kindness and human goodness.

Nicole Nowlan — one of the survivors of the worst school shooting in America’s history — told the story of Rachel Scott, who was the first victim of the Colorado massacre. Twelve students and a teacher were killed, 24 others were wounded.

In her 16 year life, Scott was the kind of person who made an enormous impact with everyday kindness. Through gestures like making new students feel welcome and standing up for the awkward kids were picked on, she had a genuine belief in human goodness, Nowlan said.

“I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same,” Scott wrote in a school essay describing her code of ethics. “People will never know how far a little kindness can go.”

At Kingston Junior High, students have heard the message, but argued that a chain reaction of compassion is yet to come.

“I think the assembly impacted a lot of people in different ways because of what happened last year, but I don’t think people’s behavior has changed,” said ninth-grader Leah Norbut. “People still bully each other.”

Toward the end of last school year, KJH suffered two tragic student deaths which other students blamed on bullying. Even though verbal harassment has significantly decreased since, students said that ominous vibes are still thrown about without regard to others.

“Your actions say everything,” said classmate Maleri Ashworth. “Just by being nice to someone, you can change the way they look at things; it can even make their day.”

Everyday friendliness was something that Scott practiced, contributing largely to the legacy which she has left behind. Her open-mindedness was bigger than any clique or popularity contest, Nowlan said, because she believed that she could make a difference.

Now, seven years after her death, 30 books recounting her life are in print and approximately 10 million people have heard her story.

“Kid’s need to know that their choices have an effect,” Scott’s brother Craig said in an on-screen interview during the assembly. “They need to know that their choices matter, that they do have worth.”

By presenting the Rachel’s Challenge Assembly, along with providing more opportunities to burgeon school spirit while emphasizing the quality of diversity and acceptance among students, KJH has been working to tell students just how important they are despite the superficial status-quo.

“Every single one of you is important to us and I mean that very seriously,” principal Susan Wistrand said following the assembly. “The most important message you can get out of this is that you have a choice. We have a choice to be positive with one another.”

“But it is up to the person, they have to want to change,” Norbut said.

According to some students, that change is slow to take hold.

“Honestly, in the ninth grade, I haven’t seen much of a change,” ninth-grader Henry Atherton said. “Deep down (we) know those things are right, but they don’t come to the surface often.”