Homewood-Flossmoor High School senior Andre Thomas is “pursuing the dream” of a better world – starting with his classmates.
Last month, the 17-year-old honor student coordinated a 75-minute evening program at his Flossmoor school to promote unity and diversity. And now school officials plan to make the program a regular event.
“I’ve always thought being [at H-F] for four years that we don’t do enough for black history and that it should be celebrated more in the school and in the community,” Thomas said. “Also, I think that in this day and age — with all the violence and stuff that’s going on now – black history wasn’t my only focus.”
At the “Pursuing the Dream” program, Anthony Beckham, the outreach coordinator for Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin, spoke to nearly 200 people about social problems and the importance of voting, especially for millennials, Thomas said. Thomas’s uncle, Les Young of Chicago Heights, talked about his experiences as a young African-American growing up in Mississippi, and Homewood-Flossmoor counselor Roberto Suarez shared personal experiences he has had as a Latino and how his background has affected “how far he gets in society,” Thomas said.
Laura Guilfoyle, Thomas’s seventh grade English teacher at Greenbriar Elementary School in Chicago Heights, spoke about challenges she has had as a female, while fellow student Duncan Wood read “How I Discovered I am White” by writer Janelle Hanchett.
The program also had entertainment: a school band and school “Steppers,” which both performed in the school’s auditorium.
Thomas said he was inspired to host the program in 2014 while attending “Living the Dream,” a South Suburban College program celebrating the life and vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. Thomas said he thought his school and community would benefit from a similar program but he wanted to expand the content.
Homewood-Flossmoor Supt. Von Mansfield gave his idea a thumbs up, Thomas said.
Realizing “it was a very daunting task” but determined to accomplish his goal before graduation, Thomas tapped into two of his main resources for assistance and direction: Suarez and Homewwod-Flossmoor High School Director of Activities Gail Smith.
“Pursuing the Dream,” was intended to be all-inclusive, Thomas said. He said Smith encouraged him to “extend it to unity” in order to appeal to more than “just one audience.”
“We put a lot of thought into what’s going to draw people out instead of just [having] performances,” Smith said. “
Suarez, who considers Thomas’ program an “inspiration for positive change in a negative world,” said many students who attended the program later told him they “came away with a more positive mindset.”
“I think Andre is leaving a legacy here, moving forward,” Suarez said.
In fact, Smith and Thomas said there are plans to continue “Pursuing the Dream” at H-F in the future .
For now, Thomas can add the program’s success to an impressive list of accomplishments during his high school years. He is president of the speech team, a member of the National Honor Society, a member of math honor society Mu Alpha Theta, a member of Thespians, and the recipient of a scholarship from Connecticut College in New London, Conn., where he plans to major in neuroscience and minor in theatre, he said.
Thomas lives in Flossmoor with his mother Lore and his sister Jada, 12. He credits both his parents with teaching him well “through the way they lived” and his father Andre with teaching him to “think big.”
Thomas said “Pursuing the Dream” was a “partial success” judging by the students who approached him to say the program “inspired” and “motivated” them to follow their dreams, but he said he feels there is much more to be done to make the dream of unity in the world a reality. Thomas is glad to have been a part of expanding the conversation.
“From the beginning, my main goal was for people to come to a program they enjoyed but [where] they also learned,” Thomas said. “I just wanted people to know that we have to work together to eliminate injustice …We can’t keep separating ourselves racially or we can’t get anything done. So that was my goal from the beginning. It didn’t change at all. That was my goal from day one.”
