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80 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, July 12, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 15, 2004 Gonzalo Duran-Chaparro, 14, (center) gets Shaquille O'Neil of the L.A. Lakers to autograph his ballcap before the Portland Trail Blazers' final regular season game Wednesday. Kids Unlimited achievers attend Blazers game Trip to Portland was a reward for improving their grades By BILL VARBLE Mail Tribune Gonzalo Duran is calling from the Rose Garden Arena in Portland. It’s late Wednesday afternoon. The Trail Blazers are about to play the Lakers. Gonzalo and his buddies just shot hoops on the arena floor. They ran into former Blazer great Mychal Thompson, who gave them his autograph. "We had fun down there," says Gonzalo, 14, of Medford. "We played just like it was a regular game. They had the lights on and the microphone." Not long ago Gonzalo’s road looked like a tough one. He’d been expelled from elementary school. He was making Ds and Fs at McLoughlin Middle School. His 16-year-old brother had dropped out of school and had a baby to support. Then Tom Cole made Gonzalo a promise. If he would pull his grades up and walk right, he could travel to Portland in April to see the Blazers play the Lakers. Advertisement That was last summer before school started. Gonzalo and some of the other kids play basketball on teams sponsored by Cole’s Kids Unlimited, the Medford youth organization based at VIBES Main 1, the teen nightclub. When grades came out recently, Gonzalo sported a grade point average of 4.0. Other kids in the basketball program made improvements of at least one grade, sometimes two. But Gonzalo’s metamorphosis from Ds and Fs to straight As was perhaps the most eye-opening. Gonzalo says there is a simple reason he was flunking classes. "I wasn’t paying attention," he says with the least hint of a shy grin. What changed? "I got inspired," he says. He credits the basketball program, with an assist from his mother. "My mom told me I’d get further in life," he says. "I just pushed myself." He’s taking English, algebra, science, social science, electives. Fluent in English and Spanish, he now volunteers as a translator to help English as a Second Language students with their work. He is an assistant in the school office, and he’s been named student of the month. He’s the captain of his basketball team. The basketball program has expanded to about 100 kids on five teams. Some of the kids that started in the program last year played on the team at McLoughlin Middle School this year. Wednesday afternoon, Gonzalo joined about 85 other Rogue Valley boys and girls ages 9 to 15 in the Portland home of the professional basketball team. Sixty percent of the kids are Latino, and all made the same deal with Cole. "They’re not the kind of kids who have usually had the opportunity to play organized athletics," Cole says. When the basketball program started last year, it was tied to Kids Unlimited’s middle school mentoring and homework assistance efforts. Although the focus was on grades, the sports side worked pretty well, too. Although most of the seventh- and eighth-graders had never played before, they not only won their league, they went undefeated. Gonzalo, whose parents are seasonal workers, says he would like to go to college some day. There is no computer in his home, but there is a dictionary. Although it’s costing the perpetually cash-strapped Kids Unlimited a bundle for tickets and travel, Cole views it as a small price to pay if it helps turn kids around. "A lot of these kids have never even been to Portland," he says. "If a $50 ticket can change a kid’s grades, I think a lot of schools would settle for it." "It’s an inspiration to push myself," Gonzalo says. "These guys here, the players, pushed themselves to make their dreams." Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. 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