Students Take a Stand for Life at Olympic High School

Olympic Students for Life co-founders: Hai-y Le and Thao Nguyen Editor's Note: Olympic High School is located outside Charlotte, NC. This is a great story of what determined students can do in our public schools. Contact NCRTL for further information, or to start a pro-life group in your school. Our pro-life mission began as an inspiration from our tennis coach. Coach Katherine Hearn was a role model for us- on the courts and off. Before our last match of the season, Mrs. Hearn shared with us her testimony. In it, she revealed that as a senior in college, she had an abortion. For years, the truth was hidden, but now she is sharing her story through a group called Silent No More. Through her, we have been enlightened to the pain abortion can cause – to the baby and also the mother. With this in mind, we set off to create a club at our public high school so that we can teach others what Mrs. Hearn has taught us. Starting a pro-life club at a public high school takes hard work and perseverance. We submitted a club proposal to our school’s Interclub Council and waited for their approval- all from choosing an appropriate club name to what activities we could participate in. However, the most difficult task was to find an advisor. For us, it was a disappointment when we found out some of our admired teachers would not support us. Further disappointments like this slowly drained us. Many teachers told us it was too controversial; many students criticized us for choosing a pro-life stance while other problems plagued our society. Another letdown was when the Christian club at our school deemed our pro-life mission too contentious in a public school setting. Our pro-life mission was revitalized when we heard of Mr. Weaver, a social studies and psychology teacher at our school. As members of a pro-life club, we were vulnerable to school authorities but Mr. Weaver led us through with his vocal and firm stance on life. At our first meeting, there were six students one of whom flatly proclaimed that she was pro-choice. Unperturbed by this, we went on with our presentation. By the end of our meeting, she was ecstatic about our mission and apparently had a change of heart. We were delighted! As the club formed, we reached out to pro-life organizations. We created “Thanks Mom,” a project in which we handmade bags and blankets for mothers who chose life. Inside the bag, we also included a bible and a baby’s picture frame. On January 22, 2007, we marched with pro-lifers across America in Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life. There were many Christians of different denominations in support of life. We have come to see that the pro-life movement is an ecumenical effort, and this has been paralleled in the relationship between us. We have bridged the differences between our religions, Catholicism and Evangelicalism, in the defense of life. Next year, we hope to expand our Thanks Mom project and do groundbreaking work in bringing our club to the March to show that pro-life work is not confined to religious groups but that it is an obligation of every human being to support life.