Austin Arnold Day of Service set for Friday

Austin Arnold was known for his kindness and generosity: his family and friends tell stories of how he counseled a friend going through a divorce and enthusiastically led classmates to visit senior citizens in a local nursing home.

Today, Austin would have turned 17 years old. And, on Friday, his classmates will pay homage to his memory by doing good deeds around the city.

The Austin Arnold Day of Service, organized by members of Austin’s Leadership Challenge class at Tennessee High School, will be a way for students to remember Austin, said Scott Jenkinson, who teaches the class.

“It had an emotional impact on the class,” he said of Austin’s death. “We really needed something to do to work through that, and personally, I can say for me, it’s helping me work through it.”

Austin died Jan. 13, when his car veered off a curvy road and crashed into a tree. His passenger, fellow soccer player Ian Addison, 17, spent several days in the hospital with a head injury.

Just hours after his death, students at Tennessee High and other area high schools organized a movement to wear blue – in memory of Austin’s bright blue eyes – in solidarity with the Arnold family.

And this week, they’ll remember him again, by visiting area sites like the Broadmore Senior Living center – the one Austin was so fond of – and other community facilities, including the Bristol Family YMCA, the YWCA of Bristol, Steele Creek Park and Healing Hands Health Center – 17 in all, Jenkinson said.

More than 150 students have signed up to help, he said, adding that Friday is a scheduled day off for winter break. Students will arrive at the school at 7:30 a.m., and work until lunch at 11:15 a.m., and then go out again on a second shift around 1:30 p.m. The day should wrap up around 4 p.m., Jenkinson said.

Students will paint walls, pick up trash, stuff envelopes and organize food donations at the various locations.

But the day of service isn’t all that high school students have done to help after Austin’s death, said Austin’s grandmother, Kay Tallman. The Discovery Church is still taking meals to the Arnold family, and his high school friends still drop by to see the family, she said.

“The kids have really shown respect and love and just plain caring,” she said. “And I just want to thank them – the students and the teachers.”

Tallman said students have taken flowers to the cemetery, shared stories with the family and been supportive during the “nightmare” they’ve been through for the last month.

“I knew he was wonderful, I just didn’t know the rest of the world knew it,” she said. “Evidently, everybody got to know him; we have heard some of the most awesome stories.”

Tallman said Austin frequently stopped by to see his grandparents – she helped raise him, she said.

“He’d just pop in our door after school,” she said. “He was always popping in and we loved to see him pull in the driveway.”

Austin had been driving for about a year, Tallman said, and he and Ian were on their way that night to Taco Bell, to catch up with some friends.

She said the family could not have gotten through the past month without community support.

“In 16 years, he touched a lot of people,” she said of her grandson. “Most of us probably wouldn’t touch that many people in 100 years. These young people have really made a difference and they’ve helped us more than they’ll ever know.”

And that touch – Austin’s enthusiasm for helping others – is what led the class to initiate the day of service, Jenkinson said.

“A lot of the students in the class have known Austin for years,” he said. “It certainly hit us very hard and that’s really where the Day of Service came from.”

He said the act of going out into the community and remembering Austin at the same time will help his friends – and the school as a whole – move toward healing.

“We’ll move toward the next part of the grieving process, the healing,” he said. “He won’t be forgotten, but we’re moving forward.”

arobinson@bristolnews.com
(276) 645-2531

Twitter: @BHC_Allie

YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Austin Arnold Day of Service
• When: Friday
• What: Day dedicated to providing community service to area organizations
• Who: Tennessee High School students, sponsored by the Leadership Challenge Class
• Where: Across the Twin City
• For more information: visit www.btcs.org or email Scott Jenkinson at jenkinsons@btcs.org.