Sept. 11, 2003 -- When 11-year-old Kelly Weil was dying from cancer, she told one of her teachers she was more hurt by the social rejection of her peers than she was by the harsh medical treatments she'd undergone since age 8.

"Kids made fun of her because she had no hair and she walked with a limp," said her father, Les Weil, of Milwaukee. "Other kids were afraid because she had cancer and they thought they might catch it."

Kelly was an intelligent girl who loved animals and books. She also stood up for things she believed in, once, for example, telling her father he shouldn't tell jokes that might offend people. She lost her battle against cancer, but out of that pain, a wonderful thing was born.

Zink the Zebra was a small story found in Kelly's journal following her death. It's the story of a spotted zebra seeking acceptance in a world full of stripes. For Kelly, it was a story of cancer. But Zink's story is universal, powerful to anyone whose spots don't match the stripes around them.

A story to share
It started on Thanksgiving Day, 1990. Kelly, the youngest child of divorced parents, split her time between Milwaukee and St. Louis. She was visiting her father that Thanksgiving, at a party, dancing, when her leg began to hurt.

A follow-up medical appointment in St. Louis revealed a large, cancerous tumor. Lengthy chemotherapy followed. Kelly was cancer-free for a time before it relapsed in April 1993. She died that September.

"For five minutes (after the relapse), Kelly cried and said, 'Why me? Why me?'" said Les Weil. "Then she never said another word, just went on with life, wanting it to be as normal as it could be."

Les Weil had noticed the social ostracism — "People would stare when we went out to eat, that kind of thing" — but he was unaware how serious an issue it was for his daughter. It wasn't until after Kelly's death that a close teacher, Peggy Hinders, told the father about how deeply Kelly had felt the sting of rejection.

"I was (angry) at her for not telling me sooner so I could have gone to school and fixed everything," Les Weil said. "But she said Kelly had told her in confidence, and she kept that confidence."

About the same time, Les Weil was going through some of Kelly's things and found a journal that included the Zink story.

"Based on what Peggy said, and what I knew, I knew Kelly was writing about herself," Les Weil said. "She was the spotted zebra, the one who felt different."

Weil realized many kids could identify with Kelly's story.

"Zink isn't just about the kids with cancer," Les Weil said. "It's about the kids who feel too tall or too short, who have a different skin color, who look different — all the (things) adults don't do a good job with and pass along to the next generation."

As hard as cancer is, as much as it tore his family apart, Les Weil saw Zink as a universal tool to teach tolerance.

"Cancer doesn't recognize any of the boundaries we do," he said. "It strikes whether you're rich or poor, black or white or Hispanic. It puts everyone on the playing field."

Children might be put off by a story that featured heavy-handed racial or religious themes, said Liz Garland, director of the Zink the Zebra Foundation. But a story of a spotted zebra? They would listen to that.

"We're constantly looking for nonthreatening ways to teach the principles of tolerance," Garland said. "That opens the door to discuss understanding, compassion, respect and acceptance."

A foundation for growth
Les Weil formed Zink the Zebra Foundation around Kelly's story, creating school programs to spread the message. Five years later, the program was picked up nationally by Girl Scouts. Today, 299 of the nation's 316 Girl Scout councils use Zink the Zebra in their programming.

Sue Dean is the field executive/program specialist with the Zia Girl Scout Council in southwest New Mexico, which encompasses five program areas in a 26,000-square-mile region.

"And we've used Zink in every one of them," Dean said.

The Zink programs — a book, a play, classroom activities, a formal Girl Scout patch program and other materials — are flexible. Dean's region, for example, has used Zink for day camps, for a Foster Grandparents program, in preschool, in fourth-grade classrooms and with the Boys and Girls Clubs.

"We're showing all kids we've got to learn to live together, and the way to do that is to accept one another for our differences and for what we have alike," Dean said. "It's just a fantastic program for us."

Through the Girl Scout's patch program, participants receive a beanbag Zink learning tool. About 300,000 have been manufactured. That means what started in one dying girl's journal, an image born in pain, is now galloping across the country. Tiny, spotted zebras everywhere, teaching kids to see the world beyond its rigid stripes.

As Peggy Hinders, the teacher who helped Kelly, wrote in an essay about the girl:

"We meet many people as we go through life. Some will fill minutes, others hours, and some a year or two. And then there are a precious few who touch a place within, and we carry them with us for a lifetime. For me, Kelly is one of those precious few."

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>> DO SOMETHING

:: Consider becoming a volunteer with the Girl Scouts, helping build momentum behind the nationwide Zink the Zebra program. Find the Girl Scout council nearest you.

>> DIG DEEPER
K-8 teachers can explore lesson plans and school tools to introduce Zink the Zebra as a classroom activity.

Preschool teachers also can use Zink lesson plans for their programs.