Indiana
Doyel: ‘The thrill of hope’ is what Indiana Wish gives to Hoosier families, like Archer’s
Kabuki Syndrome: Indiana Wish provided Archer Ruzic with a playground
Archer Ruzic, who has been diagnosed with more than 20 illnesses and conditions, giggles
Archer Ruzic giggles like a baby lamb, bleating gently, beautifully, as his dad loves on him in the kitchen of the family’s westside home. Archer is 4 years old and nonverbal, generally silent when he’s not crying in pain or, as he’s doing now, giggling softly. This is one of those moments for Jesse and Olivia Ruzic, that giggle, when everything feels OK – the hospital trips and seizures, the heart surgeries, the medications lined up on the counter like they live inside Walgreens.
That was another moment when everything felt OK – a trip to Walgreens.
This was in Michigan, four years ago, after one of Archer’s surgeries, the insertion of a feeding tube into his stomach. Archer was 6 months old and couldn’t eat by mouth – still can’t, really – and was being fed through a nasal tube. His waving little hands had discovered the nasal tube one day, and “pulling it out was becoming his favorite hobby.”
That’s from Olivia, the kind of delightful thing she or Jesse will say about their son, about their situation. Their strength is supernatural, coming from their faith. They met in 2012 at a seminary in Chicago, when Olivia tripped and … well, we’ll tell that story in a moment. By March 2020 they were married and living in Michigan, where Jesse was a pastor and Olivia worked alongside him, when the trip to Walgreens happened.
Archer was in the hospital after something had gone wrong following the insertion of that feeding tube. He suffered a stroke, and doctors told his parents – well, you can imagine what they told his parents.
“They thought he might die,” Olivia says.
Olivia and Jesse prayed, and Olivia posted an update on Facebook asking – begging – for more prayers.
“People all over the globe prayed for him,” she says.
This was a viral social media post that crossed oceans and came back to Michigan, to a Walgreens, where Olivia was getting medication for Archer when a woman approached her:
“Are you Archer’s mom?” she asked Olivia. “I’m praying for him.”
These are the moments that sustain a mom and dad when their son, their sweet little Archer, has been diagnosed with so many illnesses and conditions – more than 20, many of them unrelated – that eight of his 11 organ systems are affected. The family needs more moments, though. It’s why they called Indiana Wish last year. They were seeking help. They wanted to hear more of that glorious giggle.
Olivia Ruzic, 32, tries to explain what it’s like to raise a child like Archer. She goes old school, to the 1985 video game Tetris. Remember that one? Trying to put the blocks together, just so?
“Rare-disease parenting feels like a game of Tetris, and it’s impossible to win,” she says. “You’re constantly trying to fit together blocks that just won’t: How does this medicine that helps one organ system affect another organ? We’re so consumed with medical issues, are we neglecting developmental issues? We have two other kids – are we neglecting them? You always ask: ‘Am I doing enough?’
“Working with Indiana Wish was such a beautiful experience. They posed a beautiful question: What wish would bring your child the most joy?”
Olivia pauses.
“Indiana Wish put the most blocks together for him.”
Indiana Wish serves all year
This is an annual story you’re reading, the second such installment of our holiday Indiana Wish series. It started last year with a story about a wish granted in 2019 to Muncie’s Lauren McGlaughlin: a family trip to France, her idea, for memories that would sustain Lauren’s parents and siblings after her eventual death from cancer the next year.
Some wishes are big, like that. Some are smaller. The average cost is $12,000, and Indiana Wish is a non-profit. Each wish is granted with help from community donations.
Why write this story? Why write it every year – and during the holiday season, when we’d rather laugh than cry?
Can’t tell you, exactly. It just feels right. As we come together in December, celebrating whatever we celebrate, let’s love on people whose lives don’t look like ours – and support groups like Indiana Wish, whose sole purpose is comforting families living through their unimaginable struggle.
Pause for a moment. Let’s compose ourselves. You need to learn more about Olivia and Jesse, and about Archer and his two brothers. And you need to see the wish they received.
Indiana Wish, 2023: Lauren McGlaughlin is alive in family’s memories from Muncie to Paris
Granting Archer’s wish
Archer loves the park. Well, he’d love the park if it weren’t so overwhelming. He loves the slide. Loves to swing next to his older brother, Jack, 7.
But parks tend to have other children, and the stroke Archer suffered at 6 months caused a brain bleed in his thalamus region, where sensory processing takes place. He gets overwhelmed to the point of withdrawal, lying down on a mat to get away from all that stimulus. His frustration leads to emotional agony, to say nothing of the increased risk of infection that comes with being around other small children. When Archer gets sick, he suffers more seizures. The cycle is terrifying, heartbreaking.
Archer loves the park, but parks don’t love him back. So the family wished for a park in their backyard. Nothing big: A swing set for Archer, Jack and baby brother Dash, 8 months old. A small trampoline. Like that.
Indiana Wish built an interactive playhouse with swings, a slide and cabin. Archer plays there with Jack, swinging or sliding or just hanging out inside the cabin. It’s like their own fort, just the two of them, after Jesse or Olivia help lift Archer into the cabin. He can walk short distances, but needs help climbing.
Indiana Wish also built a netted trampoline. Jesse and Archer get on it and jump together, literally together: Jesse, 34, wraps his arms around his son and they bounce up and down. They are safe, they are together, and listen carefully. Hear it?
Archer’s giggling.
Why Indy? Riley Hospital for Children
She’s from Franklin, Indiana. He’s from Washington D.C. It was at Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute where Olivia and Jesse “met,” if you can call it that. More like she was walking to class, down some stairs, and tripped. She didn’t land at the 6-2 Jesse’s feet so much as she landed on them.
“Sorry,” Olivia told the tall stranger from D.C. before hurrying away in embarrassment, “I’m just getting used to this walking thing.”
Now Jesse is yelling after her to slow down, to come back:
“I’m falling for you!” he called out.
Great line, you have to admit.
They were married, and soon had Jack. Then came Archer, and right away – like, when he wouldn’t cry after delivery – doctors knew something was wrong. Three open-heart surgeries in six months. A diagnosis of Kabuki Syndrome, a punishing genetic condition that affects the body and brain. More diagnoses: Kidney damage. Brain damage. Diaphragm in the wrong place. A muscle mutation. Epilepsy. Autism. More.
“I don’t want to go into the whole list,” says Olivia, whose family moved to Indianapolis last year to be closer to Riley Hospital for Children, “but he’s not the most acute. I know someone putting their son in hospice now. You’d be shocked at the intense level of suffering – but also the intense level of joy these children have, including my son.”
Archer loves eggs and sausage. He reads electronic books, and darned if the kid doesn’t prefer to listen in Spanish. His parents used to go into the controls when he was sleeping, and return it to English, but Archer keeps switching it back to Spanish.
Indiana Wish and ‘the thrill of hope’
At first, Archer babbled like babies do.
“He used to say ‘Mama,’” Olivia says. “We have video of him saying it once.”
Then, the stroke. He doesn’t talk anymore, but he has beautiful brown eyes and the most expressive face; he gets his point across. But there are days where it’s all too much – another seizure, more aches and frustration – and Archer will stay in his bed, irritable or worse, in pain.
Indiana Wish knew about those moments, and purchased for Archer a reclining rocking chair. The cushion is the softest material ever – like a bed of Hawaiian rolls, the family calls it – and the rocking motion can calm him down. This happened a few weeks ago:
“Archer was having one of those days,” Olivia says. “Pneumonia and a heart-wrenching seizure day, and because of that he was so exhausted he couldn’t lift his head.
“I put up a Christmas tree. He really loves lights. I could hear him screaming in his medical bed, nothing was helping him, and I had Christmas music on in the background, songs about a God who loved humanity so much He comes down and suffered for us. My whole life I’ve always believed that, but I was struggling that day. It’s so hard when you have child that has a progressive disease that causes so much pain, and you can’t fix it. I was struggling to believe God is with us.
“I took Archer out of the bed and lay him across the rocker. He was lying on those Hawaiian rolls, and at first he was visually struggling to process the tree. I started rocking him, and he sighed and stopped screaming. A faint, beautiful smile crossed his lips. Seeing him be comforted in his pain reminded me: I’m not alone, and God is with us.
“I felt the thrill of hope,” she continues. “‘A weary mom rejoices’ – it’s so true. Indiana Wish really brings hope to families. I could not be more thankful.”
They are paying it forward as best they can, Archer’s parents. Ask around, and you learn Olivia works part-time at a local grocery store, where she quietly uses her employee discount to help other weary moms with their purchases. Ask around, and you learn Jesse left the church not because he lost his passion to serve, but found a passion to serve in another way: He’s attending nursing school, and has one year left. He wants to work in the neonatal intensive care unit. The NICU is a lonely place for parents – and can be harder on the dad, often, than the mom – and Jesse wants to help.
They are one of 3,500 Indiana Wish families granted a wish since 1984. You can help by visiting www.indianawish.org.
Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Threads, or on BlueSky and Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar, or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar.
How you can help
This is the second installment of IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel’s annual holiday series on Indiana Wish, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit that has granted more than 3,500 wishes to state children, ages 3-18, diagnosed with a life-threatening or terminal illness. The average cost of a wish is $12,000. To help support Indiana Wish, visit www.indianawish.org/donate/.
More: Join the text conversation with sports columnist Gregg Doyel for insights, reader questions and Doyel’s peeks behind the curtain.
Indiana
Foster mom sentenced to prison time in 10-year-old NW Indiana boy's death
Note: The video in the player above is from a previous report.
The northwest Indiana woman who was charged in the death of her 10-year-old foster son was sentenced on Friday, according to authorities.
Jennifer Lee Wilson, 48, was sentenced to six years in the Indiana Department of Correction, with one year suspended to be served on probation, according to the Porter County Prosecutor’s Office.
Wilson was charged with reckless homicide in connection with the death of Dakota Levi Stevens, who died after experiencing a medical emergency in April, authorities said. Wilson was arrested by sheriff’s deputies approximately 25 miles away – more than two months later – after a license plate reader camera detected her vehicle.
The foster mother stated that she laid on his midsection for several minutes during an incident earlier this year, according to court documents.
“Wilson stated that when she attempted to stop him from leaving, she does not know if she tackled Dakota or they fell to the ground however her intention was to hold him,” the court filing stated.
As she held Dakota down, Wilson stated she had one hand holding her phone and the other bracing her, authorities said. Wilson later asked Dakota “Are you faking?” rolled him over and it appeared his eyelids were pale, court documents stated.
Wilson then began CPR and called 911.
Officers made contact with a neighbor who stated that Dakota ran to her house approximately 30 minutes before emergency vehicles arrived. The neighbor stated Dakota asked her to adopt him because his parents hit him in the face and didn’t let him call his caseworker, officials said. The neighbor said she didn’t observe any signs Dakota was injured.
An autopsy revealed the cause of death as mechanical asphyxia and the manner of death as homicide. Dakota was 4 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 91 pounds, filings revealed. Wilson is 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 340 pounds, according to driver license records.
Indiana
A-to-F letter grades likely returning for Indiana schools – Inside INdiana Business
Loading audio file, please wait.
Indiana schools will once again be assigned A-to-F letter grades, reinstating an accountability measure that has been paused since the 2020-21 school year.
On Wednesday, state education leaders provided an early look at a new system for evaluating how well schools educate students. However, it remains unclear when schools will begin receiving grades under the updated system.
The overhaul follows years of debate about the future of high school diplomas, addressing a literacy crisis among elementary students, and assessing the pandemic’s impact on student achievement.
Work on a new accountability system has been underway for some time. A 2023 law tasked the State Board of Education with updating the way it evaluates public and state-accredited nonpublic schools.
The board is still required to use the A-to-F grading scale but must align it with metrics in the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed dashboard. The dashboard, launched more than two years ago, allows families to assess school quality.
Metrics include academic performance, such as third-grade reading proficiency, growth in math skills, and earning college credit.
State lawmakers could also push for further changes to the system during the legislative session, similar to recent discussions on high school diplomas.
New system this year
House Bill 1498, authored by Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, would strip back some of the older accountability framework so that a new A-F rule can be built up by the board.
However, if passed, developing a new accountability system would be placed on a tight deadline: establishing a new model by the end of 2025.
The bill outlines specific guidelines for measuring school performance. The new system would:
- Prioritize students earning diploma seals,
- Be based on data from the GPS dashboard,
- Include proficiency rates from state assessments, and
- Feature a high school “on-track to graduate” indicator.
HB 1498 also calls for null letter grades to continue through the 2024-25 school year.
State Department of Education staff shared potential changes to the system during a presentation Wednesday.
“This framework is to initiate a much broader critical discussion, to take us from a recommended framework to a final model,” said Ron Sandlin, the education department’s deputy chief strategy officer.
The department has spent around 17 months talking with Hoosiers and developing their proposal, Sandlin said. Sandlin said the state cannot rely on older models to measure this next era of education.
In 2011 the A-F system was created to replace more descriptive ratings with letter grades. Then, in 2014, the system was updated to prioritize student’s academic progress.
Under the new proposed priorities, updated ratings would consider more than just academic performance and graduation rates.
For 10th-grade indicators, the system would expand beyond academics to include attendance, advanced coursework, and reduced chronic absenteeism. Schools would also be credited for students who score above 860 on the PSAT — a benchmark achieved by more than 90% of test-takers.
“At 10th grade, where are our students,” Sandlin said. “Is everyone on a path? Does everyone have a plan, and do we have the capacity to support that plan? And our accountability model will incentivize, encourage and celebrate those schools that are effectively doing that, as opposed to now waiting until the very end and saying, ‘Well, you got there or you didn’t’”.
The changes in accountability for high schools would be paired with the state’s diploma model, so success for seniors would be measured by completing a diploma seal, work-based learning experience or credential of value. Students would be on their chosen path for either an education, employment or enlistment seal.
Board members expressed support for the initial themes of the department’s plan. Scott Bess said the older system put a lot of weight on growth, which resulted in leaving students behind.
“If you could get a kid to achieve and grow, you could get 125 points for that student, which means you didn’t have to worry about this other kid over here who’s only going to get 50 points,” Bess said. “Put those two together and it’s still a good grade, right? And so you can see people leaving groups of students behind, because from an accountability system, it didn’t matter.”
Board member B.J. Watts said the system should be kept simple and “a tool for getting better”.
“Are the students in our buildings getting better while they’re there,” Watt said.
The board plans to continue discussions in the coming months, engaging with Hoosier families and educators. The department will also seek public feedback throughout the process before finalizing the system.
The A-to-F accountability system was initially designed to force failing schools to improve. If a school received failing grades for too many consecutive years, the state could sever it from the district and appoint a new manager. In 2011, four schools in Indianapolis and one in Gary were taken over.
However, the years-long intervention was widely seen as a failure by local communities and some lawmakers.
In 2021, a state law ended the state takeover of underperforming public schools.
Rachel Fradette is the WFYI Statehouse education reporter. Contact Rachel at rfradette@wfyi.org.
Story Continues Below
Indiana
Illinois Basketball Report Card: Grades at Indiana (Game 17)
The beats went on for No. 19 Illinois against Indiana on Tuesday in Bloomington – a 94-69 hammering, to be specific – as guard Kasparas Jakucionis returned to the lineup and, along with him, the Illini’s briefly lost mojo. No one could be certain what team would show up to take on the Hoosiers before the opening tip, and by halftime it was clear that it was the Big Ten favorites.
The leap from excellence to sustained greatness is a chasm that would make Evel Knievel balk, but the Illini (13-4, 5-2 Big Ten) seem to have the springs to make it happen. Let’s take a quick look at the individual performances that lifted Illinois – for one game, at least – head and shoulders over its border rival.
After the USC loss, coach Brad Underwood admitted Ivisic need to not only play more minutes but be more involved. Check and check. Against Indiana, Ivisic was an all-around force (17 points, 11 rebounds and four assists), posting a plus-27 plus-minus in his 25 minutes and setting a tone that all future Illini opponents would do well to heed.
Returning from a two-game injury absence, Jakucionis didn’t skip a single beat. He had 19 points (including three three-pointers), four assists and three rebounds in the first half, leading Illinois to a 60-32 halftime lead. What came after (foul trouble and minimal production) hardly mattered. The damage – at his hands – had already been done.
It’s hard to overstate Boswell’s value to the Illini. He can switch effortlessly between the 1 and 2, whether from game to game or moment to moment, providing playmaking, shooting and penetration on one end while terrorizing opposing ball-handlers on the other. His game-high 22 points, seven rebounds and lockdown D against Indiana were the proof.
Gibbs-Lawhorn has carved out a wonderful niche for himself, attacking the rim in transition, sinking big shots in the halfcourt and providing atomic energy off the bench. He had 12 points (two threes) and a couple rebounds against the Hoosiers, posting a plus-17 plus-minus in 16 minutes of floor time.
Johnson had only five points against Indiana, but he hit all of his free throws (3-for-3) and plucked 10 rebounds – four of them from the offensive glass – in 18 minutes. As usual, he did exactly what the Illini need him to do (which is plenty) and took almost nothing else off the table. It’s uncanny, really.
Humrichous came down off his two-game scoring cloud, but his seven points (3-for-6 field-goal shooting), five rebounds and defense-stretching presence were just fine on an evening when several teammates were cooking. They can’t all be 20-point bangers.
Against Indiana, Riley went without a three for the third time in four games – and still acquitted himself nicely. His plus-24 plus-minus in 10 minutes was a bit of a mirage, but he played within himself on both ends (five points, two rebounds and two assists) and appears to be adjusting with each game.
White focused on creating in the paint against the Hoosiers, which didn’t go so well (2-for-9 shooting). in this instance. No worries. It’s rare when White doesn’t make something happen offensively, and he was again a reliable contributor on the boards (six rebounds).
There isn’t a lot of in between with Davis, a shooting specialist who can be targeted on defense. He missed all four of his shots from the floor against IU, but he did add a couple rebounds (one offensive) and an assist.
3 Takeaways From Illinois’ Basketball’s Win Over Indiana
3 Key Numbers from Illinois Basketball’s Win Over Indiana
Illinois Basketball’s Flawless First Half Leaves Indiana at All-Time Low
-
Technology1 week ago
Meta is highlighting a splintering global approach to online speech
-
Science6 days ago
Metro will offer free rides in L.A. through Sunday due to fires
-
Technology1 week ago
Las Vegas police release ChatGPT logs from the suspect in the Cybertruck explosion
-
News1 week ago
Photos: Pacific Palisades Wildfire Engulfs Homes in an L.A. Neighborhood
-
Education1 week ago
Four Fraternity Members Charged After a Pledge Is Set on Fire
-
Politics1 week ago
Trump trolls Canada again, shares map with country as part of US: 'Oh Canada!'
-
Technology6 days ago
Amazon Prime will shut down its clothing try-on program
-
News1 week ago
Mapping the Damage From the Palisades Fire