Chain Reaction Bermuda will start in October and local director, Gary Simons, has been working to prepare assemblies and a follow-up programme for Bermuda?s schools.

The programme was spawned in the US by the family of Rachel Joy Scott, who was killed during the Columbine school shootings.

Chain Reaction Bermuda was introduced to schools on the Island by Pastor Simons and board members in September 2002 when they conducted assemblies in several public and private middle and high schools.

As a result over 3,000 students made a commitment to start ?a chain reaction of kindness? in their schools.

An excerpt from a reaction of a Warwick Academy student after an assembly in 2002 read: ?I have had lots of issues with being teased and picked on ... your presentation seemed real to me. I felt touched by it all. During the rest of the day I thought about the powerful message and decided to be strong. I stopped listening to the insults people would throw at me ... and I helped make a friend who was down feel better. Thank you for giving me the courage to do that.?

The local programme will consist of an initial assembly that will be retained by Chain Reaction student clubs, follow-up assemblies and teacher/counsellor support teams. Character scholarships will also be awarded to deserving students.

?We believe that this will become one of Bermuda?s most effective school programmes that will benefit students, teachers, parents, even the general community,? said Pastor Simons.

Pastor Simons explained that Bermuda?s programme consists of four parts ? national awareness, Chain Reaction student clubs, character scholarships and a teacher/counsellor support team.

There will be an initial assembly and interested students will receive tags for their backpacks reading, ?You can start a Chain Reaction? and ?I won?t be labelled as average?. The second statement was written by Columbine victim Rachel Joy Scott on her last diary entry which was found in her backpack the day of the shooting.

There will be parental meetings held in the evenings. Pastor Simons also hopes to have pro-kindness media messages including Chain Reaction youth commercials to be aired on prime time as well as documentaries on pro-kindness and productions of what the student clubs are actually doing, also to be aired on television.

In the assemblies Pastor Simons has found that with survivors sharing their stories the young people to young people communication has been very positive, and he is optimistic that problem students may be moved to join the Chain Reaction clubs. He emphasised that they wanted the clubs to be diverse, not just consisting of honour roll students.

He spoke of an annual training session for the clubs which would combine all of the private and public schools together. He hoped to invite one of the many celebrity supporters of Chain Reaction as the keynote speaker.

The character scholarships, different to academic scholarships will be given on the condition that the student perform an act of kindness to someone that cannot pay them back.

Pastor Simons had also planned smaller group confidential discussions, mentors and certified stress facilitators to be available upon request for the students. Darrell Scott, Rachel?s father, said to potential sponsors: ?I hope you will support Gary and his team with all they have done.? Participating schools will receive several banners and motivational DVDs as a part of the programme from Chain Reaction. On the banner?s students will have the chance to sign their names in acceptance, of ?Rachel?s Challenge?, which can also be done online at the website, www. rachelschallenge.com.