Maliya Williams: 'I feel like no matter what, I can still do more'

WARSAW − It's not lost on River View senior Maliya Williams that she's a role model to other students and she has no problem with leading by example.

Many students at River View High School do a senior project. Williams has three. She's also senior class president, student council secretary, Spanish National Honor Society treasurer, a member of the National Honor Society, an officer for the Spirit Club and Key Club and participates in track and field. When asked if she considers herself to be an overachiever, she admits yes with a shy smile.

"I know there's always something I can be doing to help someone else or better myself. That's what motivates me," Maliya said. "I'm involved in things, but I could definitely be involved in more. I probably shouldn't say that about myself because I'm involved in almost everything (in high school), but I feel like no matter what, I can still do more."

Seniors at River View engage in projects that have them working with community mentors and can be related to just about any hobby or career field, according to Cindy Hemming, senior project adviser. The idea is to increase their self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, responsibility and decision-making skills while improving themselves, school or community.

"Maliya worked on the special needs homecoming project for one year before it happened. During that time she encountered many problems. She dealt with these challenges with tenacity," Hemming said of Williams. "Senior projects help you to develop new skills and teach you that things do not always work out the way you plan and you need to adjust. Maliya did both with her project."

Creating something special

The first was to create a homecoming dance for special needs students under mentor Tracy Webster. Maliya feels the homecoming dance just wasn't for the students, but their families and staff at River View and Hopewell School who deal with the developmentally disabled. She's also working on doing something special for the staff who work with the students as a thank you for their hard work.

Maliya helps to plan all the school dances at River View High School. She noticed nobody from the developmentally disabled classes, known as Image at River View, went to the events. Digging deeper, she found certain accommodations weren't made for them or parents were scared to send their children.

The homecoming was attended by 60 to 75 people, including parents. She received several community donations to make the dance happen, including food.

"I knew that night, when I started to see people walk in and their faces lit up...I knew I had made such an impact. I knew I had made a difference and that inspired me to continue what I'm doing," Maliya said. "Everyone should be as accepting as they can be. Maybe people don't realize it, but being accepting is the easiest thing you can do. It doesn't take anything to be accepting. By me doing this, I've also opened other people's eyes."

Maliya has spent more than 200 hours with the special needs students at both schools. She feels the most important thing she can do is just be there and get to know the students.

"Ever since I was little I've always believed that no matter who you are, where you came from and what you look like, whether you have a disability or not, what your race is, you deserve to be treated equally. I've stood by that since then," she said.

Helping those who help her

Maliya is mixed race and that led to another project, working with school district resource officer Justin Landerman, who started last school year. She said social media painted law enforcement as being negative toward Blacks and she admitted to being scared of Landerman when he first came into the building. Her second project is managing Landerman's Instagram account while also being an influencer to support positive relationships between students and law enforcement.

"I was terrified we had a cop in the building and I didn't do anything wrong. From what social media posted about cops and my race, it kind of triggered me. I'll tell Justin to this day, I was terrified of cops. I did not like them because I heard so many bad things about them," Maliya admitted. "He really helped me to branch out and become closer with law enforcement. I'm really grateful for that, because I realize not all cops are bad like social media worded it. I still thank Justin to this day for how much he's shown to me and proven to me."

The third project is working as an athletic director coordinator alongside Athletic Director Katie Wesney. She helps with paperwork, filing, scheduling and setting up for sporting events.

"I'm really close with Katie and I felt like this was a good way to help her," Maliya said.

Maliya wants to continue to help people after high school as she plans to study nursing, most likely at Ohio State University. While the senior project just amplified what was naturally in her already, Williams believes the program has a huge benefit for her fellow students and the community.

"I feel like the importance of the senior project is seniors, really anybody in high school, are able to make a difference. By them doing senior projects, they're really evolving and changing," Maliya said. "I know some of my fellow classmates, who at the beginning of the year before starting a senior project, really weren't in good standing. They didn't really lead. After they've been more involved and helped out others, I feel like they've really evolved as a person in general."

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @llhayhurst.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: RV senior Maliya Williams is focused on doing more and helping others