LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Fathers across the country walked their child to school on Thursday, but some children did not get that opportunity.
In Lakewood, the high school football players stepped up and took on a father-figure role for students that don't have dads in their life.
The players walked students from every elementary school in the city.
Lakewood Football Coach Tom Thome said that he came up with the idea after speaking to Lakewood High School assistant principal Brian Siftar.
"Lakewood fans continue to come out and support our teams and we wanted to give back," Thome said.
Thome said he has a lot of players that talk about leaving practice to go home and take care of their siblings and that they had the opportunity to walk them to school on Thursday.
He said the players went to every elementary school and made sure every student had a player to walk with.
"All of the upperclassmen went back to the elementary school they attended. It was neat speaking with teachers who had my players and hearing about how much they have changed since those days," Thome said.
Thome said he grew up in Macedonia and Lakewood is a different community.
"Everybody here goes out of their way to help each other out and I'm proud to be apart of that," Thome said.
He said at the end of the day, wins and losses don't matter; developing great young men is what does.
WOW! What a truly amazing experience, thank you to all the Elementary schools for letting us be apart of Fathers Day Walk! Proud to be apart of this community @ @Lkwd_LHS @LkwdSchools @lkwdcitizen @LkwdGrant @neofathering @lkwdhmes @LkwdHarrison @LkwdHayes @LkwdSupt @LkwdEmerson pic.twitter.com/okBusMYrmG
— Coach Tom Thome (@CoachTThome) September 19, 2019
