Boy takes bullet to save brother.Each year, Oakland Elementary School elementary school: see school. in Denver holds an annual "Courage to Stand" assembly, featuring multimedia character education programs developed by Companies for Kids. Companies for Kids is an organization that encourages students to stand up for what is right when it comes to issues like bullying and peer pressure. This year's assembly on November 28 was quite special, however. It was preceded by special recognition for one of the student body's own heroes, nine-year-old fourth grader Ricardo Caldera caldera: see crater. caldera Large, bowl-shaped volcanic depression that forms when the top of a volcanic cone collapses into the space left after magma is ejected during a violent volcanic eruption. The term is Spanish for “caldron. . Ricardo's extraordinary act of heroism Heroism See also Bravery. Achilles Greek hero without whom Troy could not have been taken. [Gk. Lit.: Iliad] Aeneas Trojan hero; legendary founder of Roman race. [Rom. Lit. took place on the evening of October 26 when two masked gunmen broke into the Caldera family's home in Montbello, northeast of downtown Denver. Ricardo's mother, Rosa Caldera, yelled yell v. yelled, yell·ing, yells v.intr. To cry out loudly, as in pain, fright, surprise, or enthusiasm. v.tr. To utter or express with a loud cry. See Synonyms at shout. n. to her two sons to hide in a basement bedroom. Ricardo instinctively in·stinc·tive adj. 1. Of, relating to, or prompted by instinct. 2. Arising from impulse; spontaneous and unthinking: an instinctive mistrust of bureaucrats. threw himself over his four-year-old brother, Esteban. One of the would-be robbers fired a shot into the room, which struck Ricardo in the lower back and exited from his abdomen. Esteban was not hit at all. Fortunately, the bullet did not hit any vital organs. Fully healed and back in school, Ricardo was honored at the special assembly. The principal and a police officer presented Ricardo with an impressive-looking trophy inscribed in·scribe tr.v. in·scribed, in·scrib·ing, in·scribes 1. a. To write, print, carve, or engrave (words or letters) on or in a surface. b. To mark or engrave (a surface) with words or letters. with his name on it. Like many brave, heroic individuals, Ricardo did not seem particularly impressed with his own deeds. When TV reporters asked him if he felt like a hero, he replied: "I guess so." When asked if he was afraid of being shot, he again replied simply and quietly: "Yes.... I was afraid." If he hasn't learned already, Ricardo will realize eventually that heroism isn't about lack of tear--it is about acting courageously despite fear. We think he made the grade. |
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