Jorge Maldonado, a tutor in IDRA's Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program, was one of two Valued Youth tutors who carried the Olympic Flame on its way to Atlanta. Jorge attends San Gabriel High School in Alhambra, California, and has been an active participant in the school's migrant program.

Jorge says that his involvement in the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program was a very important learning experience: "It has taught me to be more responsible and more aware of my self­image. It allowed me to become not only a good tutor, but most importantly a good role model."

Jorge has worked hard to improve his grades to a 3.8 grade point average and next year will attend the University of Southern California in electrical engineering on scholarship. He will be the first member of his family to attend a university.

The Coca-Cola Company, organizer of the 1996 Olympic Relay, contacted IDRA to identify students in the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program to be considered for participation in the relay. Jorge Maldonado was selected to carry the Olympic Flame for about 1 kilometer (5/8th of a mile) in Santa Monica on April 27 - the first day it was in the United States.

After passing the Olympic Flame to the next torchbearer, Jorge was told he could keep the torch he had carried for $275. When he explained that he was saving his money for college, a woman in the crowd anonymously covered the fee so Jorge could have the torch.

A few weeks later, a Valued Youth tutor from Houston, Texas, also served as a torchbearer.

[©1996, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the IDRA Newsletter by the Intercultural Development Research Association. Every effort has been made to maintain the content in its original form. However, accompanying charts and graphs may not be provided here. To receive a copy of the original article by mail or fax, please fill out our information request and feedback form. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]