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Broille: o system of writing thot uses roised
burnps, ollowing the blind to reod by touch
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frustroted: feeling
helpless or disoppointed
confidence: belief in oneielf
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VFDEO: Wotch Tommy skote ond tolk with Tony Howk.
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'vVhoosh! Tommy Corroll,
17, is in the oin He londs
perf'ectly on his skoteboord
ond continues cmising up
ond down the holfpipe. At his
locol skote pork neor Chicago,
Illinois, Tommy is known
for his creotive skoting. He
does tricks thot other people
wouldn't think of doing. He
has o style oll his own.
. There's a good reoson for
thot. Tommy con't watch
ond imitote other skoters.
He's blind. As o boby, he hod
cancer in his eyes. His eyes
were removed, ond reploced
with plastic ones.
Tommy recognizes
friends by their voices. For
schoolwork, he uses Broille
ond q loptop thot reods out
loud. Being blind hosn't kept
him from living o full life.
toke them. The teqchers were
ofraid Tommy would get hurt.
Iri elementory school,
recess was tough. "The
big thing for oll the boys
wos to ploy footboll," he
remembers. Tommy wonted
to play, but his friends
weren't sure how to include
him in the gomes. Usuolly,
he was left out.
: i-: i-j;=
i:=:-Tommy wos skong ond
fost. But in order to ploy
most sports, he needed help
from others. In sixth grode,
he got into skoteboording.
"It wos sornething I could do
individuolly," he soys.
Tommy went to the local
skote pork almost every
if i.. .,+ i r.; i-. ,u.._{ :.:. ::" Still, Tommy has foced
difficulties. He loves sports.
As o kid, he ron, swom, ond
biked-with guides to help
him. But in korote closs, he
felt frustroted. He got good
enough for odvonced lessons,
but he didn't get o chonce to
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ScholosticAction I October +,ZO1O 13
roy. He wolked oround it.
-- nen he skoted one Port
at o time. He creoted o
mop of the skote pork in
his mind. When he skoted,
the chonging sound of his
wheels told him where he
wos on eoch romp.
Tommy felt o lot, but he
never gave up. He leomed
to do tricks, such os o nose
pivot-turni.ng on the very
front of the board. His
confidence grew.
*reactts €*me
Frax*
As o serious skote4 TommY
wonted two things. One
wos to join the team of o
.koteboord compony. The
other wos to skote with his
rvorite pro skoteboorder,
Tony Howk.
The summer after seventh
grode, Tommy got o visit
from Rob Busch, who owns
o compcmy colled Agent
Skateboords, Rob osked
Tommy to join Agentis teom.
From then on, TommY got
free T-shirts and skoteboords
from Agent. In r€turn, he
skoted in shows to help
moke the company famous.
In ninth grode, Tommy's
other wish come true. Rob
called him and said, "Guess
who wants to skate with
you? Tony Howk!"
Tony had seen o video of
Tommy skating. They soon
met ond skated together.
Tony interviewed Tommy
on video for his Web site,
shredordie.com. "It wos
owesome," soys Tommy
F*s€ Ferw*rd
Today, Tommy is o senior
in high school. He runs trock
ond ploys drums in o bond.
Tommy is thinking obout
becoming a reporter somedayHe once interviewed Tony
Howk on his school's rqdio
stqtion. "I hod on hourlong
talk show" he remembers.
"We got more phone calls
thon ony other rodio show ot
the school."
Next yeor, Tommy will go
to college. He will foce new
chollenges there, but he's
not worried. "I know thot if I
put my mind to ony octivitY,
there's a woy to figure it
out," Tommy soys.
Damio
-ChristY
14
ScholostlcAction I October4' 2OlO
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+e'=E+eteh*: o lorge omount of snow (or groundl !t:
thot suddenly moves down the side of o mountain :',
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die from
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-eE,:.€E=s: people who ore hurt by something
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People con trigger
ovclonches when they
ski or snowboord.
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schotostic Action j Jorr,.ory 1O,2Ol
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Dolton
Iike o r
Payt
buried,
The he
felt likr
move.
disopp
of snor
boots I
Only
snow. I
ovolor
sohek
no tim
could s
Usin
dug Po
turm s fum winter dsy into u nigtrtmcre"
De you kncw how to survEve one?
An sveisnehe
c€lEB
On o'snowy Soturdoy lost
yeor, Dolton Anderson wos
hoving o greot time. He
wos snowboarding with his
friends Poyton Weber ond
Wyott Boird.
Suddenly, the boys heord o
loud crock. The snow oround
them begon to slide. It wos
on cvslqnche!
&crnger er=
Effie FEsFcs
"Huge blocks of snow holf
the size of me come down,"
Dalton, 13, soid loter.
The snow croshed into
i,.:
Dalton. "lt pushed me oround
like o rog doll," he soys.
Poyton's body wos olrnost
buried, but he could breothe.
The heovy snow oround him
felt like cement. He couldn't
move. Wyott's heod hod
disoppeored under two feet
of snow. The tip of one of his
boots wos sticking up.
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Only Dolton wos obove the
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snow. He hod learned obout
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ovolonches from o TV show
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toin f,
,so he knew thot there wos
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no time to go for help. Wyott
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could suffocste in minutes.
Using his honds, Dolton
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dug Poyton free. Poyton hod
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o shovel ond o cell phone.
He colled 9L1, ond the two
boys dug Wyott out.
SEEC-€_-
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were smort-
The boys
ond lucky. Mony people who
get caught in ovolonches
don't survive.
Avolonches hoppen on
mountoinsides, where snow
builds up in loyers. Eqch
snowfoll leoves o new
loyer.'In on ovolanche,
one loyer of snow slides
over another.
Within about flve
seconds, on ovalanche
con reoch neorly 100
miles per hour. Nobody con
run or ski or snowboard thot
fqst. l{s q\most impossib\e to
get out of the woy.
An ovolonche gothers
snow os it trovels. A lor$e
one con grow to 10,000 tons
of snow. Thot much snow
will flotten everything in its
poth os it roces downhillincluding trees, houses, ond,
of course, people.
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ScholosticAction I Jonuory tO,
20tt 13
To
the Rescue
Worming temperofures,
strong winds, or heovy
snowfall con stort on
avolqnche. But often, people
cause them when they hike,.
ski, o1 snowboord. Their
weight couses weok loyers
of snow to crock, allowing o
slob to breok free.
When someone is tropped
in on ovalonche, rescue
workers hove to rnove fost.
Most ovolanche victims
don't survive more thon 30
ininutes under the snow.
Some of the best rescue
workers ore ovolqnche dogs.
These onimals train for o
lear or more. They proctice
by finding their trainers
hidden under deep snow.
ScholosticAction I Jonuory 10, 20ll
A troined dog con search
on oreo in less time thon it
would take a whole teom of
humans. Some can smell o
person under 10 feet of snow!
Snow Sofety
The best woy to ovoid
getting hurt in on qvolanche
is to stay out of its woy in
the first place. Here ore some
things you con do:
o Stoy o-way from places
where ovolonches hove
hoppened recently.
. Look for signs of unstoble
snow like crocks.
. Hike up mountoins in
single file. You'll move less
snow when you wolk.
r Go to rdYyw.ovalonche
.org for more tips.
Life ond Deerth
If on ovolonche does
happen, it helps to be
prepored. Troveling in o
group ond carrying o shovel
moy hove saved Wyott's life.
Thonks to Dolton's
quick thinking, Wyott wos
buried for only obout seven
minutes. Even so, he was
in the hospitol for days.
It took weeks for his lungs
to heol.
The teens' scory experience
hosn't stopped Dalton from
snowboording. But this
winte4 he signed up for on
avolonche sofety closs. "I
wont to learn more about
snow conditions ond how I
con ovoid being in dongerous
situations," he soys.