By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — For 12-year-old Anthony Magee, one of his favorite pastimes was on the verge of being taken away. So he did something about it.

In 2008, Magee began helping out on weekends at the Greater New Orleans Therapeutic Riding Center, a LaPlace-based non-profit organization that provides a therapeutic riding experience for individuals with physical, emotional and learning disabilities.

For Magee, who lives across the street from the ranch, it was a chance to play with animals, go to different places, and work with tools and machines that most adults never get the hang of, let alone a young boy.

“It’s so much fun,” Magee said. “Ever since the first time I came here, I’ve had a lot of fun.”

But in August 2009, Magee’s grandmother came to the ranch to speak with Stephen and Anita Hefler, who run the GNOTRC. And she had a letter in her hand.

“He was getting calls home from his teachers,” said Anita of Magee, who was at the time a first-grader at Emily C. Watkins. “They have a sticker reward program, and he had yellow and red stickers.”

It was time for some motivation. Anita sat down with Anthony and gave him an ultimatum: If his behavior in school did not improve, Anthony’s days of fun at the ranch would come to an end.

“I was bad in school,” Magee admitted. “They told me if I do what I’m supposed to, I can keep coming and help them a lot.”

The message was heard, loud and clear. Other messages, meanwhile, disappeared completely — such as the calls home and the negative progress stickers.

But that wasn’t all — the disappearing act extended to poor grades. They were replaced by A’s and B’s.

And the next time Anita saw a member of Magee’s family show up to her ranch with an on-paper message, it was Anthony himself.

He was all smiles.

“That October, he came up to be, running and screaming, ‘Miss Anita, look, look!’” said Anita. “He made the honor roll, and he wanted to show me the certificate.”

Since that time, he’s kept those grades up.

“It’s really been an incentive for him,” said Anita. “We’re just incredibly proud. We really think we’ve made a difference in his life.

“I’m a school teacher, so I know how hard it can be for these kids sometimes.”

While improving his grades is one example of Magee’s growth, another is the simple fact that he’s been helping at the ranch for three years without losing interest, doing things like he did on Saturday — driving a tractor, helping Stephen to build a greenhouse.

“He’d always jump up in the tractor with me, and I’d ask him, ‘Do you want to learn how to drive it?’ He’d just nod, ‘No,’” said Stephen. “One day, I think I just got tired of getting up there so I told him, ‘OK, if you want to keep getting up here, you’re gonna have to learn to drive it.’ And that’s what he did.”

Added Anita, “Most adults don’t know how to use some of the tools he does or how to drive a tractor. He loves his big boy toys.”

He’s also learning responsibility.

“He drove it one day and needed to take a sharp turn … he ran over a fence,” said Stephen. “He thought he was in trouble, and he left it. I went and got him and told him, ‘Hey, you did it, now we’re gonna fix it.’ And he didn’t complain or say a word about it.

“He’s just a real good kid. He does what you ask him to do, and if he doesn’t understand it, he’ll tell you. He’s not scared of any of it, and he’s willing to learn.

Magee, who said math is his favorite subject, is now in the third grade, about to advance to the fourth.

That is, after a fun summer of  working with his “big boy toys,” and playing with all the pets he could ever want.

“They don’t have a pet, so he comes and plays with the dogs and cats. He loves feeding the chickens,” said Anita. “He helps out so much, and we love having him here.”