The City of Lilacs was an early nickname of the
City of Lorain. Prior to the city of Lorain being
named as such, it was named "Black River"
in 1807. Lorain County has a proud and fruitful
tradition of equality. It is the home of Oberlin
College, the first institution of higher learning
to admit women and among the first to enroll African-Americans.
It was also a major stop on the Underground Railroad.
Lovingly preserved homes, the Westwood Cemetery,
Martin Luther King Jr. Park and other monuments
and landmarks-as well as cultural events-reflect
the area's sense of dedication and purpose to people
of all races.
Citizens' High School has awarded Graduate of the
Month Status to a special Lorain resident. We are
proud to introduce you to Arthur Wright. Arthur
Graduated in April of last year. Arthur finished
his diploma requirements with us because of the
overwhelming challenges he faced in public school.
Arthur is afflicted with Muscular Dystrophy. This
disease's symptoms are generalized weakness and
muscle wasting, affecting limb and trunk muscles
first. It progresses slowly and with variability
but will affect all voluntary muscles. All the muscular
dystrophies are caused by faults in the genes and
they cause progressive muscle weakness because muscle
cells break down and are gradually lost.
Arthur was unable to continue his high school education
in public school. He needed more time to complete
assignments and more time to make it to class. One
of the unfortunate side affects of public education
is the "Group Pace" concept. Any individual
not falling into the group will have extra challenges.
If Arthur's MD wasn't enough of a challenge, He
also became responsible for the care of his younger
brother, Jason. Mounting family issues and health
problems forced Arthur to finish high school at
home.
Arthur chose Citizens' Curriculum for two reasons.
Our course material is easy to understand, while
challenging to complete, and support is always available.
Arthur was able to call or email Citizens' to receive
help solving academic problems. Arthur finished
and quested for more.
He enrolled in Lorain Community College to start
toward his degree. He was able to attend for almost
a year until MD forced him to slow down again. Arthur
is once again pursuing his degree via distance learning.
He one day hopes to have his own business, possibly
a record store.
Arthur's pastimes include reading Science Fiction
novels and watching sports on TV. We asked him what
his favorite teams are and he told us this. "I
love to watch the Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians,
and The Los Angeles Lakers." Lakers? we asked
Arthur why he liked the Lakers and not the Cleveland
Cavilers? He told us, " No body likes the Cav's."
We apologize to the Caviler Fans, both of them.
God has something special in mind for Arthur, and
we are confident that he will have a dramatic impact
on someone's life. We are proud to know him. We
are grateful to have had him as our student, and
now we are the students. Arthur has taught us that
no adversity can prevent one from reaching their
goal if they believe and have faith.
Arthur, thank you for the lesson. You are
Citizen's High School Graduate of the Month for
December 2001.
