Quiet Strength

2
IN TODAY’S STAR LILLY EXEC: READY FOR A CHALLENGE New chief of research and development says he has a plan to restock pipeline with blockbuster drugs. Business, A14 LIFE LESSONS, LEARNED EARLY Having a dad in prison forced North Central’s Terone Johnson to grow up fast. Now he’s a leader on the basketball court. C1 The Tour of Affordable Homes spotlights prop- erties for $150,000 or less. This week’s @Home feature looks at a Carmel residence with a cool in-law suite. R aymond Rut- land sat at a desk in the middle of his chaotic geometry class one morning last week. Most of his Manual High School classmates were talking, laughing, sleeping or sending text messages. But not Raymond. As usual, the 18-year-old senior was working. His textbook was open as he scribbled notes about theorems and equations, stopping twice to walk up to teacher Roxy Watson’s desk for help with prob- lems. Although few students in the class stopped to listen when Watson spoke, Ray- mond did. Although many students didn’t turn in their home- work that day, he did. In a school with profound academic failures and a gradu- ation rate of only 44 percent, Raymond is one of Manual’s best students. It’s a success story Matthew Tully THE MANUAL PROJECT many might consider unlikely because of Raymond’s disability. He has autism. But to meet Raymond is to understand why he has excelled KELLY WILKINSON / The Star ANOTHER GOOD JOB: “I like to solve problems,” says Raymond Rutland, a Manual senior who has a 3.7 GPA and autism. Math is easier for him than social interaction, and he often affirms his good work with a thumbs up. QUIET STRENGTH SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2010 “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” II COR. 3:17 $1.75 CITY EDITION LOW: 27 HIGH: 37 Scattered flurries throughout the day. Details, A18 Today’s weather News from you: You see it, you report it Report for your community by submitting articles and photos at IndyStar.com/newsfromyou. Get breaking news on your cell phone Text INDYNEWS to 44636 (4INFO) for breaking-news headlines as they happen. INDEX » Lottery A2 » Obituaries B4-6 » Editorials B8 » Scoreboard C13 » Movies IndySunday, 18-19 » Puzzles IndySunday, 35-36 » TV IndySunday, 23-34 Kravitz: Colts offensive line coach Howard Mudd can retire with no regrets. C1 U.S. ends four-man bobsledding drought Sports, C4 By Bill Ruthhart [email protected] NEW CASTLE, Ind. — A Moose Lodge in this small eastern Indiana city is about as far from the marble halls of the U.S. Capitol as you can get, a perfect setting to take shots at a former Wash- ington lobbyist and politician. But for all the heat former U.S. Sen. Dan Coats has taken in the initial days of his campaign to reclaim Sen. Evan Bayh’s seat for Republicans, none of the other four GOP candidates took Coats to task Saturday in their first debate leading up to the May 4 primary. No one uttered the word lobbyist, men- tioned North Carolina retirements or in- voked the cliche “Washington insider.” Instead, with a little more than two months to leap-frog the favored, better- known and likely better-funded Coats, his foes focused on railing against Presi- dent Barack Obama and introducing themselves to the 200 Republicans Senate debate for the GOP is quite polite No one takes on Coats’ D.C. past, spending most of the time touting themselves » See Debate, Page A19 OUR CHILDREN OUR CITY He does his homework. He comes to class. He plans to go to college. An unusual success story, in more ways than one. » See Tully, Page A12 By Roberto Candia and Eva Vergara Associated Press TALCA, Chile — A deafening roar rose from the earth. The sound of screams was confused with the crash of plates and windows. Then the earth stilled, silence returned and a smell of damp dust filled the air as stunned survivors ran from their homes. A journalist emerging onto a darkened street in Talca found a man, some of his own bones apparently broken, weeping and caressing the hand of a woman who had died in the collapse of a cafe. Two other victims lay dead a few feet away. A magntitude-8.8 earthquake had just shuddered across a huge swath of central Chile at 3:34 a.m. Talca was 65 miles from the epicenter. One of the largest earthquakes ever re- corded, the tremor tore apart houses, bridges and highways and sent a tsunami racing halfway around the world. Author- ities said at least 300 people were dead, a toll that seemed sure to rise. The quake was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil, 1,800 miles to the east. The full extent of damage remained un- clear as scores of aftershocks — one nearly as powerful as Haiti’s devastating Jan. 12 earthquake — shuddered across the country. President Michelle Bachelet declared a state of catastrophe in central Chile but said the government had not asked for as- sistance from other countries. If it does, President Barack Obama said, the United States “will be there.” Around the world, MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE IN CHILE After the shaking, a state of catastrophe Associated Press IN RUINS: A collapsed building drew a crowd Saturday in Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city, which is 70 miles from the epicenter. AT LEAST 300 DEAD; EXTENT OF DAMAGE NOT YET CLEAR » See Chile, Page A13 + THE WORST QUAKES: Chile’s earth- quake was of a type called a “megathrust.” Learn more about those and the most severe quakes to strike the planet. A13 $67 in savings inside 62 YEARS LATER . . . GOLD Now get Coupons on your cell phone! Text GROCERY to 22888 $ 100 OFF Whole-House DUCT CLEANING End of Season Furnace TUNE-UP ONLY $ 48 Did you take care of your furnace? *New customers only please. No breakdown this season. Must present at time of service. Not valid with other discounts. Expires 3/15/10. ISB0310 Sewer Drain Clearing $ 93 or FREE *Valid on main drain only. Must have reasonable access to a clean- out. Up to 100 ft. One time use of $93 or Free offer per customer. Must have FREE video inspection for guarantee. Normal business hours. Expires 3/15/10. ISB0310 $ 100 OFF Heating or Plumbing Repair *New customers only please. Valid on ALL heating repairs. Valid on plumbing repairs over $150. Must present at time of service. Not valid with other discounts. Expires 3/15/10. HVAC License #: H0002400 Plumbing License #: CO50800249 We’ll Open the Drain or It’s Free! Plus, It’s Guaranteed for 1Year! (317) 660-4909 www.WilliamsComfortAir.com New customers only please. Must present at time of service. Not valid with other discounts. Expires 3/15/10. ISB0310 Must present at time of service. Not valid with other discounts. Expires 3/15/10. ISB0310 IS-5615898.INDD SPECIAL FEATURE IN TODAY’S HOMEFINDER

Transcript of Quiet Strength

Page 1: Quiet Strength

IN TODAY’S STARLILLY EXEC: READYFOR A CHALLENGE

New chief of research and developmentsays he has a plan to restock pipeline

with blockbuster drugs. Business, A14

LIFE LESSONS,LEARNED EARLYHaving a dad in prison forced

North Central’s Terone Johnson togrow up fast. Now he’s a leader on

the basketball court. C1

The Tour ofAffordable Homesspotlights prop-erties for $150,000or less. This week’s@Home featurelooks at a Carmelresidence with a coolin-law suite.

Raymond Rut-land sat at adesk in themiddle of his

chaotic geometry classone morning last week.Most of his ManualHigh School classmateswere talking, laughing,sleeping or sending textmessages. But not Raymond. Asusual, the 18-year-old senior wasworking.

His textbook was open as hescribbled notes about theoremsand equations, stopping twice to

walk up to teacherRoxy Watson’s deskfor help with prob-lems. Although fewstudents in the classstopped to listen whenWatson spoke, Ray-mond did. Althoughmany students didn’tturn in their home-

work that day, he did.In a school with profound

academic failures and a gradu-ation rate of only 44 percent,Raymond is one of Manual’s beststudents. It’s a success story

Matthew TullyTHE MANUAL

PROJECT

many might consider unlikelybecause of Raymond’s disability.He has autism.

But to meet Raymond is tounderstand why he has excelled

KELLY WILKINSON / The Star

ANOTHER GOOD JOB: “I like to solve problems,” says Raymond Rutland, aManual senior who has a 3.7 GPA and autism. Math is easier for him thansocial interaction, and he often affirms his good work with a thumbs up.

QUIET STRENGTH

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2010 ✭ “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” II COR. 3:17 ✭ $1.75 ✭ CITY EDITION

LOW: 27 HIGH: 37Scattered flurriesthroughout the day.Details, A18

Today’s weather News from you: Yousee it, you report itReport for your community bysubmitting articles and photosat IndyStar.com/newsfromyou.

Get breaking news on your cell phoneText INDYNEWS to 44636(4INFO) for breaking-newsheadlines as they happen.

INDEX » Lottery A2 » Obituaries B4-6 » Editorials B8 » Scoreboard C13 » Movies IndySunday, 18-19 » Puzzles IndySunday, 35-36 » TV IndySunday, 23-34

Kravitz: Colts offensive line coach Howard Mudd can retire with no regrets. C1

U.S. ends four-man bobsledding drought Sports, C4

By Bill [email protected]

NEW CASTLE, Ind. — A MooseLodge in this small eastern Indiana cityis about as far from the marble halls ofthe U.S. Capitol as you can get, a perfectsetting to take shots at a former Wash-ington lobbyist and politician.

But for all the heat former U.S. Sen.Dan Coats has taken in the initial daysof his campaign to reclaim Sen. EvanBayh’s seat for Republicans, none of theother four GOP candidates took Coatsto task Saturday in their first debateleading up to the May 4 primary.

No one uttered the word lobbyist, men-tioned North Carolina retirements or in-voked the cliche “Washington insider.”

Instead, with a little more than twomonths to leap-frog the favored, better-known and likely better-funded Coats,his foes focused on railing against Presi-dent Barack Obama and introducingthemselves to the 200 Republicans

Senate debatefor the GOP

is quite politeNo one takes on Coats’

D.C. past, spending most ofthe time touting themselves

» See Debate, Page A19

OURCHILDRENOUR CITY

He does his homework. He comes to class. He plans to go to college.An unusual success story, in more ways than one.

» See Tully, Page A12

By Roberto Candia and Eva VergaraAssociated Press

TALCA, Chile — A deafening roar rosefrom the earth. The sound of screams wasconfused with the crash of plates andwindows.

Then the earth stilled, silence returnedand a smell of damp dust filled the air asstunned survivors ran from their homes.

A journalist emerging onto a darkenedstreet in Talca found a man, some of hisown bones apparently broken, weepingand caressing the hand of a woman whohad died in the collapse of a cafe. Twoother victims lay dead a few feet away.

A magntitude-8.8 earthquake had justshuddered across a huge swath of centralChile at 3:34 a.m. Talca was 65 miles fromthe epicenter.

One of the largest earthquakes ever re-corded, the tremor tore apart houses,bridges and highways and sent a tsunamiracing halfway around the world. Author-ities said at least 300 people were dead, atoll that seemed sure to rise.

The quake was felt as far away as SaoPaulo in Brazil, 1,800 miles to the east.The full extent of damage remained un-clear as scores of aftershocks — onenearly as powerful as Haiti’s devastatingJan. 12 earthquake — shuddered acrossthe country.

President Michelle Bachelet declared astate of catastrophe in central Chile butsaid the government had not asked for as-sistance from other countries. If it does,President Barack Obama said, the UnitedStates “will be there.” Around the world,

MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE IN CHILE

After the shaking,a state of catastrophe

Associated Press

IN RUINS: A collapsed building drew a crowd Saturday in Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city, which is 70 miles from the epicenter.

AT LEAST 300 DEAD; EXTENT OF DAMAGE NOT YET CLEAR

» See Chile, Page A13

+ THE WORST QUAKES: Chile’s earth-quake was of a type called a “megathrust.”Learn more about those and the most severequakes to strike the planet. A13

$67in savings

inside

62 YEARS LATER . . .GOLD

Now getCouponson your cell phone!Text GROCERY to 22888

$100OFFWhole-House

DUCTCLEANING

End of Season Furnace

TUNE-UPONLY $48

Did you take care of your furnace?

*New customers only please. No breakdown this season.Must present at time of service. Not valid with other

discounts. Expires 3/15/10. ISB0310

Sewer Drain Clearing$93 or FREE

*Valid on main drain only. Must have reasonable access to a clean-out. Up to 100 ft. One time use of $93 or Free offer per customer.Must have FREE video inspection forguarantee. Normal business hours.Expires 3/15/10. ISB0310

$100 OFF Heatingor

PlumbingRepair*New customers only please. Valid on ALLheating repairs. Valid on plumbing repairs

over $150. Must present at time ofservice. Not valid with otherdiscounts. Expires 3/15/10.HVAC License #: H0002400

Plumbing License #: CO50800249

We’ll Open the Drain or It’s Free!Plus, It’s Guaranteed for 1Year!

(317) 660-4909 www.WilliamsComfortAir.com

New customers only please.Must present at time of service.Not valid with other discounts. Expires 3/15/10. ISB0310

Must present at time of service. Not valid with otherdiscounts. Expires 3/15/10. ISB0310

IS-5615898.INDD

SPECIAL FEATUREIN TODAY’S

HOMEFINDER

Page 2: Quiet Strength

while so many of his fellow studentshave faltered.

Because of his autism, Raymond’s so-cialization skills are on par with those ofa young child. Autism limits his ability tohold a conversation, grasp directions orcomprehend the meaning behind muchof what he reads and studies. As SylviaDavis, a school assistant assigned fulltime to Raymond for the past six years,told me, he can memorize the amend-ments to the U.S. Constitution, but he’snot able to explain why they wereneeded.

Yet Raymond’s strengths and his spiritare so much bigger than any weaknesses.

Teachers at Manual repeatedly men-tion the same traits in describing him:hard-working, driven, dedicated, intelli-gent and friendly. He obeys every ruleand always turns in his homework, oftendoing more than assigned. He likes avery structured life, as do many peoplewho have autism. So, in a school with se-vere attendance problems, he nevermisses a class.

“I tried to keep him home when hehad a cold earlier this winter,” his mother,Carrie Houston, said one night as we satin the living room of the family’s Habitatfor Humanity house, “and he just lookedat me like I was crazy. Raymond justloves school. I think he likes to be aroundpeople there. He just doesn’t know howto express what’s in him.”

It’s his love of school that explainswhy, one recent afternoon, a letter ar-rived at Raymond’s house. Its arrival lefthim smiling. His mom and sister eruptedwith loud cheers. It’s an occasion tooseldom experienced by Manual students.

“After a careful evaluation of your aca-demic records,” the letter read, “we arepleased to inform you that you are eli-gible for full-time admission to the Uni-versity of Indianapolis.”

Raymond showed me the letter duringmy first visit to his house. He also hopesto gain admission into a program at theuniversity for students with specialneeds, and he wants to pursue a careerin graphic arts, a path that interests himbecause of his love for his favorite show,“SpongeBob SquarePants.” He’s clearlysatisfied with the letter. But as was thecase in most of our conversations, and inhis interactions with others, he struggledto express his feelings when I asked howhe reacted after receiving the news.

“It was great,” he said.“How did you feel?”He reached for the right word, know-

ing it should be related to college.“Transcript,” he said.Were you excited?He paused, looked nervous and then

gave a thumbs up.“OK,” he said. “It was fine.”As I wrote this column, I had a photo

of Raymond taped above my desk. He’ssitting in his bedroom, flashing one ofhis frequent smiles and, as he often does,giving a thumbs-up signal.

A few minutes after the picture wassnapped, he asked his mother if he couldtake a shower. That’s part of his rigidstructure — a nightly 7 p.m. shower —one that can’t be disrupted. The rigidityis a part of him; it keeps him calm andhas helped him succeed.

Every morning, Raymond waits by hisfront door for the school bus, which issupposed to arrive at 6:41. If it’s late,even by a few minutes, he gets nervousand asks his mom to call the district.

He arrives at school carefully in com-pliance with the school’s dress code. Hisshirts are always tucked deep inside hispants. His ID always hangs from his col-lar. He rushes from class to class, wor-ried about being late.

Last week, as he stood outside his ge-ometry class waiting for his teacher to ar-rive, I asked him to name his favorite sub-ject. He picked math, and when I askedwhy, he said, “I like to solve problems.”

As with many people with autism,Raymond understands the black-and-white nature of math, as opposed to thegray areas of essay questions or writingassignments. His standardized testscores in math matched the state aver-age, but he’ll need a graduation waiverbecause he has struggled with the lan-guage arts portion of the tests.

Still, he does well in all of his classes.In biology last week, he spent onemorning taking a quiz about the nerv-ous system. Before starting, he scoureda study sheet until the last possible mo-ment. After finishing, he self-graded thequiz as his teacher looked on. He gotevery question right, leading to a bigsmile and another thumbs up. Then, asother students continued working, hewalked to the classroom’s second-floorwindow and stared out intently. I askedwhat he was looking at.

“The flurries,” he said as light snowfell.

A few minutes later, I noticed Ray-mond was looking at me and holding apiece of paper. Davis, the assistant whoattends each class with Raymond and

serves as his primary in-school supportsystem, told him he couldn’t just handthe paper to me. As she often does, sheurged him to “use your words” to com-municate. The main concern she andothers have about Raymond is his strug-gle to communicate with others. Hisbiggest challenge is expressing what heis feeling and thinking.

This time, he walked over to me andasked a question.

“Can I present you with this mid-term?” he asked, and then proudlyhanded over an early semester progressreport showing four A’s and three B’s.

His grades throughout high school —all traditional, and not special educa-tion, classes — have been just as good;his 3.7 grade-point average is a result ofhis hard work, and puts him in the topfive of his graduating class.

“He has this exuberance, this enthusi-asm,” teacher Brent Freeman said. “Hedoesn’t talk a lot, but his nonverbalcommunication is so positive and so up-lifting.”

Freeman teaches Raymond in a classdesigned to prepare students for the ba-sics of life after high school. In one re-cent session, Freeman asked the stu-dents if they remembered any of thekeys to setting goals they’d talked aboutin a previous class. Raymond raised hishand; he remembered being taught tomake his goals specific.

“Why is that important?” Freemansaid.

“Because it will help you to your fu-ture,” Raymond said.

“Exactly,” Freeman said, as Raymondgave the class a thumbs up.

For Raymond, the future includes col-lege and, his mother hopes, eventuallythe ability to live independently. He’lllikely always need support — rides toappointments or someone to check onhim — just as he needs extra time fortests at Manual and assignments occa-sionally tailored to him. But his teachersare certain he’ll be a dedicated worker,one eager to finish the tasks assignedand helped by his intelligence.

For now, though, Raymond has amore specific goal in mind. It’s one thatsurprised Davis, his assistant, becauseRaymond rarely shows interest in mak-ing friends with classmates. He likes toeat alone, smiling and looking aroundthe lunchroom, and doesn’t like to be

touched.“But one day I was talking to him

about his senior year and I could tellsomething was bothering him,” Davissaid. “Then he asked me, ‘Will I be ableto go to the prom?’ ”

Davis told him not to worry; she’dtake care of it. Since then, she’s col-lected donations to pay for his tuxedo,tickets and limo.

“Now I just need to find him a date,”she said. “I will.”

Houston, Raymond’s mom, is excitedabout her son’s upcoming adventure. Aswe talked at her home last week, shesaid she hopes he’ll someday have afamily. But she knows he isn’t ready forindependence and for now wants him tocontinue living at home. It’s a homefilled with pieces of ceramic art Ray-mond has made over the years. Ray-mond frequently listens to MichaelJackson music and watches cartoons ontelevision with, for reasons that puzzlehis mom, the closed-captioning on.Lately, he’s taken to watching the movie“Mr. Holland’s Opus.”

Houston believes that’s because of thesoaring soundtrack and scenes at theend of the film in which Richard Drey-fuss bonds with his deaf son. Raymondhasn’t seen his dad in three years.

“It’s too bad that he’s not around,”Houston said. “But it’s his loss.”

Houston told me about the days when,at 18 months old, Raymond stopped talk-ing. He’d been saying “mommy” and“daddy,” and then it all stopped.

Doctors at first diagnosed him with adebilitating learning disability but a yearlater realized he had autism. On thespectrum of mild to severe autism, Ray-mond fits somewhere in the middle. Fora time he did things Houston didn’tunderstand — zip up strangers’ jacketsor pinch people. He didn’t start talkingagain until he was 6 years old.

“I would just hope and pray that oneday my baby would grow out of it,” saidHouston, who works in the county’schild support division. “But that’s nothow this is. It’s just something we haveto live with — him and me. But it’s fine.I would never doubt him. Never. Imean, look at him.”

At the end of a recent school day,Raymond sat in College Summit, a classthat helps students prepare for highereducation. His teacher, Cheryl McMana-ma, seemed frustrated with other stu-dents who showed little interest in talk-ing about the financial aid applicationsthey would need to fill out.

“August is going to roll around, andsome of your friends are going to go offto college, and you’re going to havenothing to do,” she said to one student.“This is important.”

Raymond got nervous and raised hishand.

“I’m all caught up?” he asked.“Yes, you’re all caught up,” McMana-

ma said, smiling.“Good job, Raymond,” Davis said,

pleased he’d taken the initiative to askthe question.

Tremendous resources have beendedicated to help Raymond during hisyears in Indianapolis Public Schools.Special education teachers and staff,and Davis, his helper, have made it pos-sible for Raymond to spend his days intraditional classes. Speech therapistshave worked with him extensively.

It’s been a great investment, one thathas helped give an inspiring studentmore opportunities.

Wednesday afternoon, I stopped inJacqueline Sababu’s office. She isManual’s special education compliancemonitor and has spent a lot of time withRaymond during his high school years.She talked about the need to understandthat students with autism have a widerange of strengths and challenges andshouldn’t be lumped together. She thentalked about Raymond’s biggest strength— the effort he puts in every day.

“I just wish there were more Ray-monds here at Manual,” she said.✭ Reach Matthew Tully at (317) 444-6033 or viae-mail at [email protected].

KELLY WILKINSON / The Star

PREPARED: Raymond Rutland was ready and waiting for geometry class Wednes-day. His standardized test scores in math are at the state average. To see morephotos, go to IndyStar.com/multimedia.

Tully» As with many who have autism,Raymond likes a structured life.

From A1

A12 » SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2010 2 N D THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR » INDYSTAR.COM

More than 220 teachers in Indianapolis haveposted requests on DonorsChoose.org for commu-nity help to pay for projects. Donate as much oras little as you want — the project stays up un-til enough people contribute.

To help, go to the site and click “You give.” Usethe location list in the upper-right corner to find aproject to help fund.

Follow the instructions and specify how much todonate with your credit card. DonorsChoose willdeliver the supplies to the teacher.

If a project already has been funded, browsefor others.

Here are three projects that could use yourhelp:

Photography art classes$505 needed toward the $555 cost to buy twodigital cameras so art students in Kimberly Dax’sclass at Northwest High School can learn photo-graphy. They will be working on portraiture.

Science class stopwatches$137 needed toward the $275 cost of purchasing20 classroom stopwatches for students in KathySlaven’s science classes at Beech Grove MiddleSchool. The classroom clock can’t be seen fromthe lab area, and stopwatches are needed totime experiments.

Tutoring room lounge chairs$98 needed toward the $255 cost of bean bagchairs for the tutoring center at George Washing-ton Community High School. Tutoring CoordinatorKelly Hannon said she is trying to make the rooma comfortable, inspiring place for students tocome. (Second week listed.)

How you helped last weekAfter The Star highlighted three projects Feb.21, more than $870 was donated to pay for twoprojects: art smocks at School 63 and mathgames at School 39. More than $2,000 has beendonated in recent weeks to pay for projectshighlighted here.

LOG ON.DONATE.IT’S EASY.

6 STEPS YOU NEEDTO TAKE TO BECOMEA VOLUNTEER1. Assess your skills and resources to determinewhat you might have to offer a student.2. Contact a local organization or a school inyour area.3. Agree to a criminal background check. (It’sfor the safety of the children.)4. Attend training.5. Set aside at least one hour a week to volun-teer.6. Stay committed; the most fruitful relation-ships are built over time.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSTHAT NEED YOUR HELPMany local schools and organizations are work-ing to make a difference in the lives of children.Here are a few that are especially effective.More will be featured in the weeks ahead.

Help teach girlsGirls Inc. matches volunteers with girls ages 6 to 18. The program involves hands-on activ-ities with structured follow-up sessions tomaximize learning. The organization works with150 volunteer instructors and can add 200 newvolunteers this year. Volunteers must completesix hours of training and pass a criminal back-ground check.Contact Girls Inc. at (317) 283-0086 or online atwww.girlsincindy.org.

Promote understandingPeace Learning Center helps students and par-ents find healthy ways to resolve differencesand communicate more effectively. The center,which has 75 volunteers, can accommodate 125more this year. Volunteers must attend a three-hour training session and pass a backgroundcheck.Contact Peace Learning Center at (317) 327-7144 or online at www.peacelearningcenter.org.

Help mentor parentsTrusted Mentors helps adults overcome poverty,underemployment, social alienation and incar-ceration. Last year, Trusted Mentors workedwith 65 at-risk adults, many of whom had chil-dren. The organization has 40 volunteers andcan use 75 more by the end of the year. It gen-erally takes two weeks to match a mentor witha program participant.Contact Trusted Mentors at (317) 985-5041 oronline at www.trustedmentors.org.

TAKEACTION

NOW75% of kids who havea mentor in their life

graduate from high school

‘Our Children, Our City’The Indianapolis Star is joining ourreaders and the community to improvethe lives of children and education in ourcity. The Star has set three goals for theproject, including increasing the numberof volunteers in the community by10,000. If you would like more informa-tion or want to arrange for someonefrom The Star to speak to your organiza-tion about this effort, call (317) 444-KIDS — (317) 444-5437 — or e-mail usat [email protected].

+ ONLINE: For more aboutthis series, please visit IndyStar.com/ourchildren.

The Manual Project:About the seriesThis is the 24th in an occasional seriesof columns Matthew Tully is writingabout Manual High School. Follow Tully’sreports throughout the school year as heexplores Manual through the eyes ofteachers, administrators, students andparents at IndyStar.com/Manual.

“Raymond just loves school. Ithink he likes to be around

people there. He just doesn’tknow how to express what’s

in him.”Carrie Houston, the mother of

Raymond Rutland

Carmel846-7522

College Park875-5106

Noblesville773-8235

Speedway297-3527

Greenwood882-1533

Allisonville257-8106

Avon272-5137

Braeburn899-5172

CALL 1-800-874-7317

CLICK AAA.com/travel

VISIT Your AAA Office

Vacation Planning is Available to Everyone

*Prices are per person, USD, double occupancy,cruise only. All itineraries and prices are currentat the time of printing and subject to changewithout notice. Ports vary by sailing. Certainrestrictions may apply. Government departuretaxes and fees are additional. Ships registry:

Bahamas.

Majesty of the Seasdeparting from Miami, FL

Key West • Nassau • CocoCay

No FEE Vacation Planning“Experience and Trust”

4 night Bahamas Cruises from $199*Cameras, TVs, Luggage,& More

Earn AAAVacation Rewards...

Monarch of the Seasdeparting from Port Canaveral, FL

Nassau • CocoCayCruises include: accommodations, onboard meals,

entertainment, activities and much more.IS-5614631.INDD