The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
OneLHS focuses on positivity in school
New club open to students of all classes to build pride
A new club aims to offer Lorain High School students the chance to get involved in their school and in their community.
School teachers, administrators and guests met with 100 students on Sept. 24 for a kickoff breakfast for oneLHS. It’s a new program for students to think about, talk about and take steps to help each other build Titan pride.
Computer science teacher Christa Lokiec and 10th grade English teacher Regan Onweller will serve as advisers.
OneLHS is open-ended for now. The students will meet regularly and determine their own ways to focus on classmates being happy and successful and doing the right things, instead of negative influences, Lokiec said.
“The reason we wanted the students to really propel this club forward is because we want them to have buy-in,” Onweller said.
School and community pride empower students to avoid behaviors like fighting or the “Devious Licks” trend that encouraged videos of school vandalism on the social media site TikTok, Onweller said.
“They don’t want to do anything that could be seen as negative because this is our school building,” she said.
The attending students came from all grades. Lorain High School Principal Patrick Coleman addressed them as he would the senior class.
“Your legacy, your story here at Lorain High School, it is going to be defined by you, it’s going to be defined by your actions,” Coleman said. “This is your high school and this is your time.
“We need you, we want to hear from you. What type of high school do you want to attend? What steps are you willing to take to help us create the type of high school that you want to attend?”
Guest speakers were freshman football coach Dave McFarland, who also has served as head football coach, and Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley, who attended with his wife, Debora.
They focused on helping others in school and helping the community at the ballot box.
McFarland described the request that led to him serving as Lorain High School’s football coach.
He said at first, he did not want to do it, but being part of the solution became “the greatest give-back to me.”
“I’m the one that got the most,” the coach said. “I learned more about love and compassion and I go home feeling good about myself.”
The students signed up for oneLHS to be part of the solution, McFarland said.
He asked them to think about what that really looks like and suggested first steps could be eating lunch with someone new, saying “hi” to a random person, being kind to someone.
The process is just beginning, he said.
“It warms my heart that you’re here, but now we’ve got to do it,” McFarland said. “Every day, you’ve got think about how can I make somebody else smile in this school.
“Every day, you’ve got to try to do a little bit extra and you’ll get more than you take.”
Bradley quizzed the students on a brief history of voting in the United States.
At first that right was limited to white men who owned land.
After the Civil War, Black men were able to vote but only with great difficulty in some places.
No women were allowed to cast ballots until their protests successfully led to a constitutional amendment, Bradley said.
“So you see, it’s not been an easy thing to vote in the United States of America,” he said. “It’s been a hard thing.”
Once students reach age 17 ½, all they have to do to vote, is register, Bradley said.
Sometimes the students will be examples for their parents or other family members who don’t turn out on Election Day, he said.
“Don’t pass up that right,” Bradley said.
The mayor said his wife will lead a voter registration drive at the school leading up to Oct. 4, the deadline to register to vote in the November election.
Debora Bradley had a printed message for the students: “You are worthy of being seen & heard.”
Bradley also shared his background about the older Lorain High School.
Homecoming is this weekend for the school; Bradley said in his student days the homecoming football game usually had Lorain High pitted against the former Admiral King High School.
Before attending law school, Bradley worked as a fourth-grade teacher in the school district.
He talked about city careers in law enforcement and firefighting and noted the emergence of e-sports, or electronic gaming, as a path for scholarships and work.
Bradley offered the students his office and cell phone numbers — and the caveat that he won’t answer if they call at 3 a.m.
The one LHS members will meet after school or at lunch, a better time for students who play sports or are in band, or who work or care for their siblings, Lokiec and Onweller said.