By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Leadership has become a core value in many schools and Wynford is no exception. But how those leadership attributes spread throughout the district and beyond has surprised and touched many people.
It could be argued where and when leadership characteristics first began to reshape how Wynford students think and act, but High School Principal Jeff Holbrook credits much of it to a program based upon Urban Meyer’s book, Above the Line. He and the other five public high school principals in the county teamed up to create the Leadership Academy, which is comprised of seven upperclassmen from each high school.
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“We recognize teachers, we recognize students,” Holbrook explained about the program installed at Wynford. “Just trying to teach kids about leadership. When they do see leadership, what it looks like, what it smells like, what it tastes like. All those different nuances.”
He added that the leadership qualities from the students involved in the Crawford County Youth Leadership training has spread throughout the school. In fact, Holbrook believes the way the school district has promoted leadership led directly to an email sent to him on Oct. 8, one day after the Royals demolished Lima Central Catholic 43-7 on the gridiron.
“Our biggest result might be how kids are treating other kids – on the football field or the court or in competition,” Holbrook said. “Really, you don’t ever get emails from opposing teams that are particularly positive.”
That changed for the 18-year educator when he received an email from Thomas Williams, a student from Lima Central Catholic, late one Saturday. Williams, a wide receiver on his team, was a player that Holbrook remembered well.
“Very nice player, very athletic, tall receiver,” Holbrook described. “We did not want him to touch the ball – that’s the type of player he is.”
Holbrook opened the email and began reading a letter that he thought would not turn out well. By the end, he was sharing it with everyone else that had gathered to watch that Ohio State football game.
“I was blown away,” Holbrook said.
Here is the letter Williams sent to Holbrook:
Good afternoon Mr. Holbrook,
I’m sure you will not remember me, but I am #12 from the Lima Central Catholic Thunderbirds football team. I just wanted to let you know how I felt and how your coaches, players, and fans made me feel after our game yesterday. Walking off of the field after being defeated badly, your coaches and fans showed nothing but respect for me and my teammates. Plenty of players congratulated me for a good game when shaking hands, multiple coaches gave me compliments and checked in on how I was feeling after taking a big hit in the fourth quarter, and students and parents I have never met, and probably will never see again, congratulated me and wished me well for the rest of the season. I have never played a game against more respectful players and I’ve never met parents who would talk to an opposing player in such a positive way. As a player, that is the sportsmanship you want to see, especially when losing by 30+ points. I just wanted to thank you for the hospitality and thank you, your players, your fans, and your coaches for such a great atmosphere and great sportsmanship. Your team deserves their record and deserves to go deep into the postseason. Good luck the rest of the year, I will be watching, and hopefully make it to a playoff game down the road.
Go birds and GO ROYALS!
Thomas Williams
Wide receiver #12
Holbrook was impressed with the email, not only for the sentiment expressed, but also for how well it was written, and the initiative Williams took.
“He didn’t think I would remember him, but – as a former coach – those kids jump off the film and they jump off the field. He stood out as an exceptional player.”
Holbrook was not too surprised by Williams’ comments on the coaches – he noted that head coach Gabe Helbert and his staff tend to speak to outstanding players after the game. In fact, Holbrook later said, the Wynford coaches could not say enough about Williams.
“I think they recognized them for the effort,” he said. “That really wasn’t a huge surprise, but hearing about our players – that was.
“It’s what we expect, but not all the time does that always happen,” Holbrook continued. “It also was how our fans treated this young man. I think our fans are pretty good.”
Holbrook decided to share the email with Lima Central Catholic administration and called Principal Stephanie Williams that Monday, who did not get to hear the voicemail until Tuesday.
“It was such a nice call to get,” said Stephanie Williams, who did not know that her student planned on sending such an email. “I’m just very proud of him. Still proud of him.”
The Lima Central Catholic principal believed that Williams really started to fall into the role of a leader at the beginning of this school year. He was selected for a Leadership by Example Award, which is given out quarterly at LCC, at the beginning of the school year.
Stephanie Williams hoped that showing the student body how to be a leader with examples from other students would create a ripple effect, but she never imagined how Williams’ actions would ripple across school districts.
“I think it’s just a cool example of what everyone’s about,” she said. “Thomas is a great example of what we strive for at LCC.”
She noted that her school played Elida for their first football game this season and students from the schools began tweeting back and forth. Though the Thunderbirds lost that game 40-33, Williams took the initiative to tweet to the Elida students after the game. He congratulated them on their win and said he was praying for them after the loss of two of its students.
Stephanie Williams said that was the first glimpse of Thomas Williams stepping into the role of a leader.
“I like that that’s continued through the year, that it’s not a one-time deal,” Stephanie Williams said. “He’s getting it.”
The story did not end with just a few emails and a couple of phone calls, however.
“With Above the Line, we wanted to recognize the coaches, we wanted to recognize those players,” Holbrook said. “So we did.”
Williams’ letter now holds a place of honor in a display case in the Royals’ cafeteria, along with recognition of the Royals football team and coaching staff. It has also made the rounds through the Wynford community, area schools, and even throughout the Northern 10 Athletic Conference community.
“I guess Thomas is just a little star around here because of an exceptional email he had sent me,” Holbrook laughed.
Holbrook offered a ticket to Williams for the Gibsonburg vs Wynford playoff game last week, but Williams was unable to make it to the game. Nevertheless, Holbrook thought Williams needed to be recognized for his outstanding act.
“We honor our kids so I thought why not honor someone else with Above the Line?” he said.
Dean Williams of Dean’s Trophy House donated a plaque for the occasion and a Wynford 
plaque was made for the Lima Central Catholic student. Stephanie Williams said they received the plaque in the mail Wednesday.
“That’s what we’d do with our own kids,” Holbrook acknowledged. “When they demonstrate elite or exceptional – what we call Above the Line behavior – we recognize those kids . . . Kids got to be recognized and what he did – being in education 18 years – I’ve seen a kid do what he did. That’s why it just blew me away.
“This is why high school athletics is so exceptional,” Holbrook later said, “because you get a Thomas Williams like that and you get to see what type of character . . . He has very high character to do something like what he’s done.”