THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250587
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 57 lines
Not so long ago, Norfolk teen Tarrod Cunningham seemed to walk a tightrope, balancing between mean streets and making his mother proud.
His life swung like a metronome between good and bad. One week he might be cited for his work in the community. The next week, he could get kicked out of school.
But that's how it used to be.
Today in Richmond, Gov. George F. Allen will hand this 18-year-old Park Place youth an award for his leadership and volunteer work.
``So far, I'm going toward the good,'' Cunningham said this week. Since last spring, Cunnningham has moved from his family's home into an apartment he shares with another youth. He is determined to acquire enough scholarship money to go to college. Someday, he would like to own a computer business.
Cunningham, a senior at Maury High School, holds down a part-time job, and somehow finds a copious amount of time to devote to helping others. As a member of the Keystone Club, he spends hours each week helping kids at the Colonial Boys and Girls Club. He also is a youth representative on Norfolk's City Council.
He also serves on the city's planning committee for the weeklong Red Ribbon Campaign that kicks off today.
Cunningham helped organize the events that will mark the campaign that aims to make neighborhoods drug-free.
He will join Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim and others in a Family March Against Drugs at noon Saturday at Janaf Shopping Center on Military Highway.
On Monday, Norfolk State University will be the site of a candlelight march that will begin at Brown Hall and end in a rally.
Then, on Saturday, Nov. 2, Red Ribbon week culminates with the demolition of two Hillside Avenue apartment buildings that once sheltered drug dealers.
Martha ``Marty'' Raiss, coordinator for the PACE Office of Community Outreach, called Tarrod Cunningham ``a great kid'' who ``uses his intellect in positive ways to influence others.'' He's a leader, she said.
``Any kid gets pulled, but it can be severe sometimes,'' Raiss said. ``Tarrod wanted to go the right direction and has consciously had to work at that.''
Cunningham is 1996 Youth of the Year for both the Colonial Boys and Girls Club and the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Hampton Roads, also in Norfolk.
Tarrod is the son of Ernestine Cunningham Davis and stepson of Alex Davis. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/The Virginian-Pilot
Tarrod Cunningham, 18, attends Maury. He is determined to acquire
enough scholarship money to go to college. Someday, he would like to
own a computer business.
Graphic
RED RIBBON CAMPAIGN EVENTS
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm] by CNB