CARY Newsletter Fall 2009

Father Gregory Boyle, S. J., Speaks at 10th Anniversary Celebration Dinner

CARY’s "10th Anniversary Celebration" on September 24th, a reception and dinner at the Hilton Austin Hotel, netted almost $30,000 for CARY’s violence prevention programs. Thanks to our dedicated sponsors, donors and auction bidders, CARY will be able to help more high-risk students in the school disciplinary system.

Guest speaker Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest who works with gang members in East L. A., spoke to almost 200 CARY supporters, including guests from law enforcement and education, at a dinner in the Austin Grand Ballroom. Southwest Airlines donated the airfare for Father Boyle.

The evening began with a reception with music by the Austin High String Quartet, a silent auction and a cash bar with a complimentary cheese buffet. Over 100 auction items were donated by local businesses, including a pair of diamond earrings from Kruger’s Diamond Jewelers, complimentary commercial air time on Grande Communications, golf at the UT Golf Club and River Place Country Club and many dinners for two from Austin’s finest restaurants.

During the reception, guests were treated to a premier showing of “An Ounce of Prevention,” the Rotary At-Risk Youth Video courtesy of the Rotary Clubs of Austin and Houston.

Following the reception, dinner was served in the Austin Grand Ballroom where CARY Board Chair Robert J. King welcomed the crowd and introduced Doots Dufour, Director of Criminal Justice Ministry of the Diocese of Austin, who gave the invocation.

Adrian L. Moore, Executive Director, talked about the founding of CARY because of concern over the Columbine school shooting 10 years ago. He said that CARY’s youth advisors now provide violence prevention training to over 600 middle school students a year in AISD and Lulling ISD.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, CARY Board Advisor, introduced Father Boyle, saying we can “pay now or pay later” in reference to youth violence in our community. Father Boyle then spoke on the theme “Tattoos on the Heart: Strategies for Working with At-Risk Youth.” He talked about kinship, that “there is no them just us,” about compassion and “being in awe of what people have to carry in their lives.”

Father Greg gave examples of ways in which Homeboy Industries, a non-profit organization, has created jobs for gang members, giving them a sense of purpose. He added that Homeboy Industries even provides a tattoo removal service to prepare gang members for job interviews. The audience was fascinated by Father Boyle’s speech, which was videotaped for a future event.

CARY would like to thank the volunteers who helped set-up and staff the event. We especially thank the Development Committee, chaired by Gina Williams, which included Joan Hilgers, David Quintanilla, Alfred Stanley, Rebecca Leal and Heidi Gibbons, Development Director.

We also would like to give a special thanks to our in-kind donors whose generosity reduced CARY’s expenses and made the evening more special: Tyler Schmitt for photography; Emmis Austin Radio and the Austin American-Statesman for publicity; Graphic Granola for invitation design; Tokyo Electron for program printing; Miller Blueprint Co. for our giving place mat printing; Word of Mouth Catering for the incredible 10th Anniversary cake; Thundercloud Subs for help thanking volunteers and, of course, all our wonderful silent auction individuals and business donors.

Kudos go to Rhonda Isser who invited columnist Michael Barnes from the "Austin American-Statesman" to our event. Mr. Barnes’ article in “Out & About” was the perfect follow-up to the 10th Anniversary Celebration, as he commented, “The Council on At-Risk Youth deals with the toughest cases among young people prone to violence, drug abuse and delinquency” and encouraged “more Austinites to back this group that helps tens of thousands of troubled youths.”

CARY Staff Trained in New ART Curriculum

On September 14 -15, Dr. Sarah Salmon with the Center for Safe Schools and Communities came from Denver to provide Aggression Replacement Training, (ART), to CARY staff members, as well as two AISD staff members and CARY board members Bob King and Helen Almanza. The purpose of the training was to prepare staff to implement ART with at-risk students in their respective middle schools in the fall of 2009.

There are 3 main components of ART: Social Skills Streaming, Anger Control Training and Empathetic Reasoning. The program also includes a parent empowerment component that encourages family bonding and promotes the fundamental lessons learned by students in ART groups.

Why is ART significant for CARY students? Studies show that ART training will improve skill acquisition and performance as well as anger control. The program also will decrease the frequency of acting-out behaviors and increase the frequency of constructive, pro social behaviors (including improved academic outcomes). These effects have been shown to last up to and beyond a year.