Lance Rutter

Last October when he was 13, Lance Rutter was looking for a service project to fulfill requirements for his upcoming church confirmation.

But, the Eureka boy found a lot more. He believes he has found a direction for his career.

Lance will be a freshman at Eureka High School this fall. But, he hopes to go to St. Thomas Catholic School in Hannibal as a sophomore so he can begin studying for the priesthood.

Last fall, Lance started his service at Marymount Manor Nursing Center, "just up the street from my home." His first job was to help with the Saturday mass at the center.

But, his commitment kept growing.

"I talked with the activity lady to see if there were other things that I could do," he said.

Activity director Wendy Wells suggested that he read books to a patient who had cerebral palsy. He agreed to spend two hours every Thursday on his reading assignment.

"She liked children's books. But, pretty soon, we covered all the books she had in her room. So, I brought in my Harry Potter books from home," he said.

Lance said the patient had been having a difficult time at the home because of her disability. "But, they tell me she's doing a lot better since I've been reading to her," he said.

He still wanted to do more.

That led to him coming in all day on Saturdays. He plays chess with patients, takes some to the dining room and also talks to others. He's around also to play games such as bingo.

The activity staff at the nursing home decided his service deserved some recognition. Last spring, they nominated Lance for a Do The Right Thing award.

That's a community service award given to young St. Louisans who display "positive traits, such as responsibility, respect, courage, service to others, integrity and caring." It has been in St. Louis since 1995 and is based on a program in Miami, Florida.

The local award program is sponsored by Cooperating School District, the St. Louis city and county police and KMOV-TV.

But, his service also was pointing Lance toward a career decision.

Lance took the occasion of his confirmation last spring to announce his plan to become a Catholic priest.

He said the head priest at his church, Sacred Heart Church of Eureka, was his role model in making the career decision. However, he said he didn't talk over the decision with Father Alexander Anderson.

"I just sort of sprung it on everyone when we were getting our pictures taken for confirmation," he said.

He said he wants to become a parish priest like Father Anderson.

Lance said he recognizes that his decision to become a priest isn't a common one these days. "I'm probably the only one in my school that will be doing that," he said.

But, he said his community service "gives me satisfaction that I'm doing good." He added, "When I'm at the nursing home, I know I'm brightening the days of people who otherwise might not have a good day."

During this summer, he works all day Thursday and Saturday at the home. That is, except when he worked as a helper at his church's Vacation Bible School .

He still has time to be a 3.75 GPA student in school. He also is planning to go out for golf and maybe water polo at Eureka High School in the fall.

Lance admits he's got some work to do to convince his mother, Tracy Mueller, that he should go away to school in his sophomore year. "She doesn't think I should go that far away at my age," he said.

But, he is philosophical about the situation. "If I can't go as a sophomore, I'll just keep after her so I can go as a junior," he said.

That's the sort of persistence that will serve him well in his planned lifetime career.

You can find more about Do The Right Thing by clicking on the station's website at www.kmov.com. Then, access the Community header on the left side of the website.

Also, you can find out about the CSD Character Education Program at www.info.csd.org.