During this time, Dawn of Day, a children's book publisher of Long Island, New York, was searching for its first author to write a book on seahorses. The company contacted many organizations specializing in seahorse conservation and asked if they knew any dedicated young people with the talent and ability to write a book on the subject. After many rejections, Dawn of Day was about to give up its search. Finally, Dr. Elanor Bell responded with information about Julia. Within a year, Julia completed her first book entitled Seahorses DownUnder.

By age 12, Joshua was determined to learn the techniques being shown, even though he was still too young to become certified. He observed every class, every technique, and allowed the other students to practice on him. He seemed to absorb the information and how to use if it it should ever become necessary.

At age 14, that knowledge helped Joshua save his mother's life. As she was driving a car in which Joshua and his brother Derek were passengers, she fell asleep at the wheel. The car went over an embankment, overturned, and landed at the bottom of the hill.

When Joshua regained consciousness, his first concern was if his mother was alive. Hearing her moan, he quickly put into action what he had been trained to do. Although he was in pain, he got his mother and brother out of the demolished car, to safety, and treated their injuries. He crawled up the embankment, flagged down a passing vehicle, and asked the occupants to call for an ambulance and the police. Then he returned to help his mother and brother, treating their injuries until an ambulance crew arrived. His mother was diagnosed with a concussion, shattered wrist, and a dislocated shoulder blade. Derek suffered cuts and abrasions, and Joshua a concussion and contusions. The ambulance crew credited Joshua for saving his mother's life.

A few months afterward, another accident tested Joshua's ability as an EMT trainee. He and his uncle were in a paraglider crash in which his uncle was thrown from the glider and landed on a discarded hide-a-bed frame. Josuha called his nearby cousin to make sure her father lay still and then summoned help. His brother Derek helped guide the ambulance to the scene of the accident. The Emergency Room crew credited Joshua with saving his uncle's life.

Now at age 18 (2005), Joshua has passed the necessary test and is certified for Rescue Fire I.

During his last few years of training, Joshua has served on the student council at West Wendover High School, senior class vice president,carried a 3.5+ grade point average, was elected to participate on the state leadership teams, and was accepted into both the Junior and National Honor Societies. At graduation, he was granted two, four-year scholarships.

After learning that William Tell Aggeler High School in Los Angeles did not have a library, Chas offered to provide one and then went to work developing a plan and obtaining all of the necessary approvals. He solicited donations of money, building materials, and skilled labor from local businesses, unions, and civic groups. Volunteers from Chas' school, scout troop, and church helped level a cement floor, paint walls, install carpet, and build shelving. Others shelved and catalogued book donations using the Dewey Decimal system. In addition to housing books the school already had, the new library will feature 4,000 new volumes purchased with a state grant and another 1,000 collected by Chas. The library is not only providing much broader reading horizons for Aggeler High School students, but also has inspired some of Chas' friends to start volunteer projects of their own. "It seems that when you help in some small way, it affects lots of other people and things," Chas says. "It just expands in a circle."

As an eighth-grader at Sierra Canyon School, Chas was honored by Prudential as one of the National Top Ten Volunteers of 2003.