Columbus Bishop Ready High School students received a visit from Rachel Muha, founder of Run the Race and the Brian Muha Foundation, and you could hear a pin drop in the gym as she spoke about mercy.
Rachel’s youngest son, Brian, was tragically kidnapped and brutally murdered on May 31, 1999 while attending Franciscan University of Steubenville. She talked with students about raising her children, the days of agony waiting to hear if her son would be found, the road to forgiveness that inspired her work today, and how her faith played a role in all of it.
Bishop Ready administration, faculty and staff are committed to developing servant leaders who make a positive impact on the community while also growing in faith. What better example than “Miss Rachel,” as she is lovingly known within the community.
“Rachel and The Brian Muha Foundation/Run the Race Club have been supporters of Bishop Ready and our mission for a number of years,” Bishop Ready principal Matt Brickner said. “The relationship between the foundation and our families continues to be one that strengthens our community’s faith and commitment to service.”
Before Muha’s visit, faculty and staff completed a book study on “Legacy of Mercy,” which is about her journey. Faculty and staff now bring the book to small groups within the building called Castles.
At the beginning of every school year, each Bishop Ready student is placed into a small family group known as their Castle, a play on the Bishop Ready mascot the Silver Knights. Each Castle honors a patron saint and focuses on a social justice project that spans childhood obesity, youth in foster care, mental health, gun violence, healthy relationships and substance abuse, among others.
The Castles research their topics, educate one another, discuss connections within their social justice focus and complete service projects. Now, the groups are focusing on how showing mercy within these social justice projects can have a wider impact on the community.
Asked about Castles, Brickner said, “Rachel’s visit to Bishop Ready to speak with our students and staff was a meaningful way to begin our ‘Legacy of Mercy’ book study within our Castles. We look forward to incorporating this book and the messages within it into our curriculum throughout the school year.”
For the remainder of the year, each Castle will be assigned one chapter of the book and will create a multimedia presentation on that chapter to share with the other Castles. This will lead to a school-wide dynamic summary and impact that “Legacy of Mercy” had on the students and staff of Bishop Ready.