These days Omar Morris is grateful for every step he takes down the hallways of Livonia’s Churchill High School.
“When they let me back in school it was like two tons of weight just lifted off of me, just lifted off of me. I walked in the door… I felt the breeze,” said Omar. “I felt the breeze of my education coming back inside of me.”
Omar was suspended toward the end of his freshman year, after a cafeteria fight which quickly became the evening news, in the spring of 2014.
He sat out of school the last school year, during his sophomore year. Instead of attending class, he was home schooled.
Omar worked really hard and had to go through a process to get re-enrolled at Churchill High School.
“I knew I was missing out on my education and I still had to, you know, just grind to be here mentally and I was still doing my work and all types of other stuff,” said Omar.
“Omar is a good student and a wonderful person and he recognizes the severity of his mistakes as a freshman but he took that adversity and he stepped forward and with his loving mom and family and with a lot of support from teachers and coaches he has made a lot of great decisions,” said Churchill High School assistant principal Kevin Etue.
The junior, has now bumped his GPA up to about a 3.0 and he is a rising star on the school’s football team.
During a recent game, the running back even scored three touchdowns and rushed for 130 yards!
“He is glowing example for young adults,” said Etue. “We have all made mistakes, the ability to recognize those mistakes and take a big step forward and make a bunch of right decisions… he’s a glowing example of young adults.”
After such a positive turn, Omar now knows anything is possible.
“I see someone who is going to be a leader in the community,” said Etue. “He recognizes what his skills set is and what his goals are. The students follow him. He’s wonderful in our hallways. He has a great sense of humor and I see him being a great leader in our community.”
“If you were in my predicament… don’t stop… just keep on grinding,” said Etue.
