Energy reignited for 'A Fighting Chance' child safety program in Lake Tahoe schools

Jaycee Lee Dugard was just 11 years old as she walked to the bus stop on the morning of June 10 in 1991 when she was abducted by two people. The Meyers and South Lake Tahoe community joined law enforcement in searching for the missing girls. As days turned into weeks, and then eventually years, parents searched for ways to teach their own children about safety and abduction.

Current City Councilwoman Brooke Laine was the parent of young children at the time, and she taught put them through scenarios about "what if?" What if a person grabbed you, or, what if a stranger put you in their car, or, what if a stranger comes to you to help them find their dog?

One day, after Brooke's son Nick found out that his friends didn't get the same training, he asked him mom, "How are my friends going to know?"

In 1997 Brooke was Soroptimists International of South Lake Tahoe Club President, and her project was the stranger abduction program, A Fighting Chance. It came from those games of "What If?"

With the help of Soroptimists International of South Lake Tahoe, Brooke, with the cooperation of Jaycee’s mother, Terry Probyn, and local law enforcement, a cohesive program was developed to keep local 5th grade children safe. They also recruited the help of the other local club, Soroptimists International of Tahoe Sierra, to help with the program.

A Fighting Chance teaches skills to children to empower them for the duration of their life.

An average of 5,000 children are kidnapped by strangers each year, with the most common age of victims being 11-12. The Soroptimist program started with those 5th graders, but soon expanded to include 4th graders in its second year. Eventually added both third and sixth grade presentations were added.

Over 7,000 students in Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) have gone through A Fighting Chance over the last 20 years.

A Fighting Chance curriculum was created by former teacher and Soroptimist Charna Silver:

Third Grade: Students go through quick scenarios, working on board games that former teacher Carol Haas designee. Example - You are riding your bike to school and someone you don't know tries to stop you and ask for directions. What do you do?

Fourth Grade: Review the previous year's lessons, then watch a 25-minute video about important lessons created by LTUSD students in 1997. They learn about a family having secret code words. And they learn about milk cartons and missing children's photos posted on the side. They make their own milk cartons with their information on them. (this will be revamped to match current times with Amber Alerts)

Fifth Grade: The kids learn how to get away right away. Jaycee's mom Terry speaks on a video about how maybe Jaycee wouldn't have been kidnapped had she known about getting away right away. The kids learn what to do in those first minutes: grabbing the keys out of the ignition, jamming something into the key opening, pulling wires, make noise, make themselves known at stops as well as learning escape strategies and getting the tools necessary to be safe.

Sixth Grade: A review of the past three years of programs. A car is brought in where the kids go into the trunk and learn how to escape, or how to use the inside of the car to their advantage.

The car was added to the program in 2004 with donations from Nancy Dalton and Fred Koller. That original car was painted and had the words "In Memory Of Jaycee Lee Dugard" on the trunk. The car's age showed wear and tear after 13 years of visiting the middle school and getting kicked aroun, so an old police car was cleaned up and donated by Kathay Lovell and SLT Police Chief Brian Uhler this year. It was painted by Welcome's Auto Body, and since Jaycee was rescued in 2009, the top of the trunk now says "In Honor of Jaycee Lee Dugard."

During a recent Soroptimist meeting at Harrahs, the new car was unveiled and volunteer LTUSD students were on hand to show how the program works. Also at the meeting were Brooke's son Nick and his friends who stared in the movie created for the program 20 years ago.

After A Fighting Chance took a year off in 2017 the program is being resurrected in LTUSD by new volunteers and program leaders.