Kids kick for record

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, May 9, 2001

AMY SZPARA

PHOTO: FIGHTING JUVENILE CRIME, students from Robertson’s Unified TaeKwon-Do of LaPlace spend their Saturday morning participating in a Break-A-Thon to raise money for Project Action Foundation. Brennon Davis kicks a board held by Ralph Harrison into halves, as Eric Harrison, center, encourages him. (Staff Photo by Amy Szpara) LAPLACE – A row of white-clad students knelt before cinder blocks holding wood pieces and re-breakable boards. All at once, they began chopping away with flat hands and closed fists at the boards before them. Wood pieces and plastic halves flew about, piling up in scattered heaps around them. “Come on. Help fight juvenile crime. Let’s go!” shouted the master of the students. That was the scene Saturday in front of Wal-Mart as students from Robertson’s Unified TaeKwon-Do of LaPlace spent their morning, breaking and splitting boards with the power of their trained hands. In an effort to break the world record for breaking, the students spent one hour working to beat 29,127 breaks. Across America, other groups joined them, and the total breaks in all will be counted next week. Unified TaeKwon-Do students broke 1,320 boards in an hour. Combined with the others participating in the Break-A-Thon, the students hope to beat the record. Aside from breaking, Unified TaeKwon-Do also spent time educating passersby about Project Action, a foundation created to fight juvenile crime. For one hour across America, different groups worked toward getting the public to donate to the LaPlace organization. According to Master Kirt Robertson of Unified TaeKwon-Do, all of the donations go straight to the foundation, which takes youngsters off the street and pays for them to participate in martial arts. The non-profit children’s charity places disadvantaged children into positive, goal-oriented physical-cultural arts programs, such as the academy that Robertson runs. “It helps children in our community,” said Robertson, who said that he would like to encourage more businesses to get involved in the project. Though this is the first year that Robertson and his students have participated, they plan to raise funds every May from now on. “Everyone wants to stop juvenile crime. This is the best way to do it, give the kids a place to go,” said Robertson. “We will continue doing this every year.” Robertson said they had very little business participation this year, and he attributes that to people not knowing much about the foundation. He is concerned that people in the community may not know it is a legitimate organization, because they have heard little about it. “Wal-Mart has been very gracious, though,” he said. The money raised goes to the foundation, and as local community members recommend at-risk children to Robertson’s program, he can admit them at no charge. The foundation would pay for some of their fees, which would allow Robertson to accept more students on a scholarship-based status. The students have to meet certain criteria, such as making good grades and showing an eagerness to accept the program’s requirements. “For example,” said Robertson, “Wal-Mart might say, We have a student we think is worthy,’ and that student could come in to the school on the scholarship.” Currently, Robertson has six students at his school who are there on scholarships. A few businesses and different parents asked him to take them, and he is one of the only local schools that accepts students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In fact, several students with the disorders have completely gone off of medication after getting serious about martial arts. “It’s a way to get kids off the street,” said Robertson. “We challenge the Sheriff’s Office, too. This is a national organization. We encourage parish government as well. This is one way for us to help in juvenile crime. I’m limited to how many kids I can budget. This allows us to take in kids, and it helps override some of the costs. It helps with the costs of uniforms and other expenses,” he said. Robertson said he is also thankful to Home Depot for the discount on wood and LaPlace attorney Fred DeFrancesch, who notarized the breaking count. The Karate Shop in Kenner donated the re-breakable boards, which are plastic and can be put back together to break again and again. Their donation probably cost around $125, said Robertson. “That’s a great thing,” he said. Robertson said that anyone who would like to donate can still do so. They can send checks or drop them by Unified TaeKwon-Do on Airline Highway between now and Friday. They need all donations in by Friday so they can do all paperwork required by the foundation. Checks must be written out to Project Action Foundation, because the money goes straight to the organization.