LUCAS — School wasn’t always easy for Damon Mauk. As a young child, he was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and put on a specialized education plan.
But Mauk knew he was much more than a diagnosis or a label. Through hard work and discipline, he graduated with honors from Pioneer Career & Technology Center and Lucas High School in 2023.
His mother, Andrea Mauk Akinyemi, said supportive teachers at Lucas Local Schools made a huge difference in her son’s educational journey. They allowed him to use a standing desk or sit on a yoga ball so he could move around. Releasing excess energy helped him to focus.
“We were very fortunate to have teachers that were willing to adapt,” she said. “It changed his life significantly.
“When you feel like you’re doing good in school, it helps with your sense of self-worth.”
On June 24, Mauk died in a single-vehicle car crash. Friends and family described him as a gentle giant with a kind and generous soul.
Mauk Akinyemi and her husband, Mauk’s stepfather Edward, have channeled their grief into ensuring his name and legacy lives on.
The couple recently established the Damon Mauk Memorial Fund at the Richland County Foundation. The fund will provide resources to area schools to meet the needs of neurodivergent students.
“When something like this happens, it’s an insurmountable loss to really convey to people,” Mauk Akinyemi said.
“You want to remember the spirit of your child. Damon’s spirit was full of energy. He loved people. He loved being around people. Part of me feels like this is Damon pushing me to do it because it’s something that he would have done.”
The Damon Mauk Memorial Fund
The Damon Mauk Memorial Fund has already allocated $5,000 for the special education department at Lucas Local Schools. Mauk Akinyemi said her goal is to expand eligibility to all Richland County schools as the fund grows.
Teachers will work with students on Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and their families to apply for funding.
Mauk said the funds can be used for equipment, training or other expenses that support students with disabilities, sensory sensitivities or unique learning needs.
What makes the fund unique is the money goes to teachers, allowing them to invest in tools they can use with multiple students and keep for years to come.
“When you’re on an IEP, the school will pay for certain equipment, but it stays with the child,” Mauk Akinyemi explained.
“So the teachers are not actually able to keep (those tools) in their classroom. Through the scholarship, they can apply for different things to keep in their classroom to help everyone in their classroom learn in different ways.”
Mauk Akinyemi said she hopes the fund will also raise awareness of unique learning needs and help de-stigmatize IEPs.
“I think a lot of times we pick out what’s ‘wrong’ with kids versus what their strengths are,” Mauk Akinyemi said.
“After he passed, a lot of kids messaged me and said that they felt secure or not afraid to talk about being on IEP because Damon wasn’t afraid to talk about it.”
The Akinyemis said they consulted with local educators while developing the fund to talk about their needs.
Some said they would benefit from training on how to best serve neurodiverse students. Others expressed interest in equipment for students like noise-cancelling headphones or gas cards for families.
“Some people don’t have the gas money to drive from Lucas to Pioneer for a parent-teacher conference,” Akinyemi said.
Big Scorpio Wrestling
When asked how Mauk might feel about the scholarship fund, Mauk Akinyemi said she thinks he would be proud, but not satisfied.
“He would probably say, ‘Good job Mom, but you can do better. Keep it up,'” she said. “That’s how he was. He was always pushing, always had a goal.”
Mauk’s tenacity and goal-setting was on full display as a member of the Lucas High School wrestling team.
“I think wrestling appealed to him because Damon was very much about setting goals for himself and within himself,” Mauk Akinyemi said.
“That’s what wrestling is. When you go out there, you don’t have a team member that you can fault. It’s you against yourself and I think that appealed to him.”
Mauk towered over his former wrestling coach, Ed Finley. They also shared a birthday and Zodiac sign — the Scorpio. Mauk’s fellow wrestlers nicknamed him “Big Scorpio” as a result.
“They also said that because he would strike in wrestling,” Mauk Akinyemi said. “He was a heavyweight, but he was fast.”
The Akinyemis are in the process of founding a non-profit, Big Scorpio Wrestling, to support Lucas wrestlers with the cost of competing.
“Wrestling shoes alone are close to $200,” Akinyemi said. “If a kid wants to play, we don’t think that a deterrent should be lack of equipment or financial need.”
Akinyemi said she hopes to organize a bitty wrestling tournament in 2024. Profits from The Big Scorpio Memorial will be dedicated to the scholarship fund.