Cerebral palsy victim Robert Shumate once begged his mother to send $1,000 to a television evangelist he hoped could heal him.

"Jesus doesn't charge for miracles", Vicki Shumate told her son. "If Jesus wants you to be healed, he will heal you."

Robert's one wish was to be able to walk. His dreams finally came true in the fall when MOVE (Mobility Opportunities via Education) International came to Decatur. The MOVE Program teaches those with severe disabilities the skills necessary for sitting, standing and walking. Students use the classroom tables and chairs, and special walkers called gait trainers, to aid movement.

For parents who thought they would never see their children take the first step, MOVE is a long-awaited answer to prayers.

"It's given the parents, teachers and community hope," parent Ronnie Dugger said. "It's what we have begged for for years."

Students work with equipment on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and spend the rest of the week integrating MOVE into their day-to-day routines. Teachers encourage them to practice walking as they go to classes and run errands around school, such as picking up absentee slips and taking lunchroom reports to the office.

No one has to coax these youngsters out of their wheelchairs. They look for opportunities to walk, said Decatur High Developmental Principal Tom Maynor.

"They demand it sometimes," Maynor said. "Once they get a taste of what we take for granted, they can't turn back."

Walking does more than strengthen their muscles, improve breathing and develop speech patterns. It builds their self-confidence.

"They have attitude now," special education teacher Rachel Poovey said. "We never had to have a discipline plan until this year. I'm constantly having to raise the level of expectation in my classes."

Students' increased mobility allows Poovey to incorporate more hands-on learning into classroom curriculum.

"There's no academic skill they can accomplish lying down," Poovey said. "If they can go places, touch things and see things, it makes the learning more feasible."

Absenteeism amoung students has decreased since the MOVE Program began. Parents say it's because their children feel more a part of the school. Teachers invite them to sit in on regular classes more often, giving them a chance to participate and interact with children their age.

Dreaded school

Before 9-year-old Mandy Jo Tippett learned to walk, she dreaded going to school. She would cry when her mother dropped her off in the mornings. Last year, she missed 40 days of school. This year, she missed only 11.

"She gets to be around the kids more," Mandy's mother Melody Tippett said. "She's part of that now. Before she sat in her wheelchair, removed. Now she's running and playing with the others."

Mandy's classmates at Somerville Road Elementary often hitch rides on the front of her gait trainer. She pushes them down the hall with a broad smile, enjoying the attention.

When Mandy passes students in the halls, they root for her. The harder they cheer, the faster she moves. The tray on her gait trainer reads, "Go Mandy Go," a charge her classmates often shout out as she walks by.

Somerville Road first-grade teacher Kristen Propst says her students notice Mandy's dedication and like to celebrate in her successes. Propst has one student who moves all the furniture and toys against the wall when children from the MOVE Program visit because he doesn't want any obstacles to stand in their way of walking.

The children feed off their peers' approval and encouragement--a relationship quite different from the one they shared with them in years past.

"Before, we were co-existing in the same building. We were aware of each other," Propst said. "But now their presence has allowed my children to gain a sense of empathy and understanding for them."

Maynor says the best part of the MOVE Program is seeing his students set goals of their own.

"It's their motivation, not ours," Maynor said. "They are making their own choices. As we back off, they learn to take more responsibility for themselves."

If Maynor's hopes sound ambitious, just listen to 14-year-old Robert Shumate and 17-year-old Jacob Dugger discuss the possibilities surrounding their future.

"I think I'm going to be a boss one day," Jacob said Friday afternoon while hanging out with Robert.

"I want to sing gospel music," Robert said.

"I want to be an interpreter for a deaf school," Jacob added.

"I wish I could run a marathon," Robert said.

Both born prematurely, Robert and Jacob were diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 1 year. Though each began therapy at a young age, doctors gave their parents little hope that they would walk. Since the boys started in the MOVE Program 10 months ago, they have not only walked but have begun challenging each other to take more risks.

Last fall, Robert talked Jacob into eating lunch in the cafeteria.

The last week of school, Jacob walked to the cafeteria, sat in a regular chair, ate and then walked back to the gym by himself. The last two weeks of school, he also attended sign language club meetings in the high school.

Jacob's next goal is to walk across the stage at Decatur High's graduation to receive his diploma.

Jacob's mom, Karen Odom, believes he can do it.

Before the MOVE Program came, Jacob had grown discouraged and disinterested in therapy, Odom said.

"He would say, "Why should I try anything if I'm just going to fail?" Odom recalls. "The MOVE Program has encouraged him to reach out and try new things. It's given him a drive and reawakened a desire in him."

In the past year, Jacob has taken up stenciling and drawing again, and has become even more passionate about his hobby of learning sign language. "Before the MOVE Program came along, I wasn't happy with myself," Jacob said. "It was like a piece of candy. It made me happy again."

Robert says he enjoys walking in the MOVE Program because he gets to "see the smiles on other people's faces."

While walking around in the gym one day, Robert spied stereo speakers hanging from the ceiling. He asked one of the therapists what the black boxes were. He had never been able to see them before.

"Standing up gives them a whole new view of the world," Maynor said. "We're always talking to them sitting down. Now we're not exactly on eye level, but almost."