Kids to Tell Your Children About : Award Winners Show That Heart Comes in Small Packages

What kind of kid is Jim Berner?

Ask his social studies teacher.

“He’s the type of individual who will give me a call at home to make sure I’m OK” when she calls in sick, said Sheila Blyth, social studies teacher at Springview School in Huntington Beach.

Pretty considerate of a student, you might think. But Jim has a great empathy for others because he has missed his share of school as a result of three operations treating him for a persistent brain tumor.

“He has a handicap to work with, but you wouldn’t know it,” Blyth said. “He’s very school-oriented, never complains and is a very positive individual.”

Seventh-grader Jim Berner, 14, is one of seven youths selected as the winners of the inaugural Kids Who Care program to honor youngsters for outstanding accomplishments and contributions to their communities.

The winners were nominated by school officials, civic groups, youth organizations and individuals, and they will be honored March 25 during half-time ceremonies at the 10th annual Cop Bowl ‘88, a charity football game at Orange Coast College.

Proceeds from the game between two Orange County police teams will provide athletic equipment for 35 area schools. Tickets (at $5 for adults, $3 for children) are on sale at police stations and high schools in Fullerton, Buena Park, Garden Grove, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and Irvine. Children under 8 will be admitted free.

The other Kids Who Care winners are Jesus Alvarez, 14, of Garden Grove; Candace Carlson, 16, of Irvine; Juan Cordova, 11, of Costa Mesa; Kristin Genc, 17, of Fullerton; Shane Langenberg, 15, of Buena Park, and Elisabeth Shanker, 17, of Newport Beach.

The youngsters will be escorted onto the field at half-time by players from the Los Angeles Rams and celebrities known for portraying police and “good guy” roles in films and TV. The escorts will announce to the audience the reasons each winner was selected.

Jim was nominated by Blyth, who noted that despite three operations in six years and continuing daily radiation treatments, he carries a regular academic load and is involved in school activities.

Jim also took the initiative to set up demonstrations for Spring View School students by a police K-9 unit and by the Seeing Eye dogs of the Blind Foundation.

“If it’s something that he thinks will be good for someone else to see, he just goes ahead,” Blyth said. “Despite his ordeal, one seldom hears Jim complain. In fact, he is constantly thinking of how to get more services involved at Spring View School. He is a determined and remarkable young man.”

Jim takes karate lessons and enjoys bicycling and collecting baseball cards. He said he refuses to be discouraged, despite the operations for his non-malignant brain tumor.

“Life goes on, I guess you could say,” is how he put it. “There are kids worse off than me.”

Kids Who Care winner Jesus Alvarez, an eighth-grader at Jordan Junior High School in Garden Grove, volunteers his time at the Boys Club of Garden Grove, where he also works as a junior staff member.

“Other Boys Club members look up to Jesus because he is always courteous and treats people fairly,” a Boys Club spokesman said. “As an example for our younger members, he is one of the best role models we could ask for.”

Jesus’ activities also include working on fund-raising efforts for the “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign and for Orangewood, the county’s home for abandoned and abused children; helping with a parents’ auxiliary jog-a-thon; performing volunteer yard work for the elderly, and working in the club’s summer lunch program, a responsibility usually handled by an adult.

“I was small once, and I needed someone else to help,” Jesus said.

Candace (Candy) Carlson, sophomore class president at Woodbridge High School in Irvine, has worked with community organizations that included Meals on Wheels, Woodbridge Children’s Center, People for Irvine Community Hospital, Orange County Rescue Mission Meals Project, the National Charity League, World Impact Project and others.

“Candy has never shirked her responsibility to be a contributing citizen and finds no job too mundane or undesirable,” according to her school’s activities director, Colleen Cross.

“I love to help people and make their lives easier,” Candace said. “When I get out of high school, I’d love to go to a four-year college and then go on and have an occupation in either law or broadcasting. In law, I can help people get out of trouble, and in broadcasting, I can inform people.”

Juan Cordova, a fifth-grader at Pomona Elementary School in Costa Mesa, is an 11-year-old hero.

Even after being threatened with bodily harm, Juan came forward to be the key witness in the arrest and conviction of five juveniles for armed robbery and extortion of schoolchildren.

“Without Juan’s statements, the suspects would still be terrorizing the schoolchildren by beating and threatening them for their money,” said Costa Mesa Police Capt. Thomas Lazar, who nominated Juan for the award. “Juan was instrumental in identifying the suspects and getting convictions.”

Juan said some children tell him that when the youths “get out, they will punish you.”

But Juan doesn’t think that will happen. If he had it to do over again, he would still cooperate with authorities, he said.

“It was a good thing to do,” he said, adding that he believes other children will follow his example and have the courage to report such illegal acts.

Kristin Genc, a senior at Troy High School in Fullerton, was nominated by school counselor Catheryn Hoehn, who noted that she “possesses a unique and wonderful quality--the spirit of unselfish giving.”

Kristin is a National Charity League board member, works at the Boys Club tutoring youths in reading and speaking English, donates time to the Meals on Wheels program and volunteers at a senior citizens center.

“We are all amazed at the numerous hours that she dedicates to the Fullerton community,” Hoehn said. “Her qualities are admired by all with whom she comes in contact.”

Kristin particularly enjoys her Meals on Wheels volunteer work because “you get to interact with the older people and talk to them,” she said. Her tutoring efforts give Kristin the “enjoyment of seeing other people learn.”

Kristin plans to become a teacher and finds that her volunteer work is “in a way related to teaching individuals.”

Shane Langenberg, a freshman at Buena Park High School, was chosen as the annual Boys Club of Buena Park outstanding youth of the year for his “patience and willingness to work with children.”

Shane coaches third- and fourth-graders in basketball and assists in a basketball clinic for first-through-third-grade youngsters.

The Boys Club staff praised Shane for “his willingness to help out and lend a hand when needed.”

“I like to give back what they gave to me,” said Shane, who played basketball in the Boys Club program for three years.

It is rewarding to be appreciated, Shane said.

Shane said he finds it gratifying when a youngster tells him, “I’d like for you to be my coach.”

Winner Elisabeth Shanker, a senior at Corona del Mar High School, is a volunteer aide at a convalescent home and day-care center and counsels teen-agers at a shelter. She has collected blankets and money for the homeless. Through the production and sale of a Key Club calendar, she raised money to help restore a Mexican orphanage. She also speaks to sixth-grade classes about drug and alcohol abuse.

“Through her energy, time and devotion, Elisabeth has touched a number of lives and made them more meaningful,” said Corona del Mar High Principal Dennis Evans, who nominated her.

Elisabeth said she feels good “knowing that the things I do help someone else.”