17-year-old karate aficionado Derek Meegan will be hosting a free self-defense seminar for high school girls on February 11 in the West Ranch High School gym. The seminar will be free to attend.
Meegan, a senior at West Ranch, believes that it is important for young women to learn proper self-defense before heading off to college; and with years of martial arts experience under his belt, he has partnered with the Ali Kemp foundation to offer the free seminar.
“I’ve always thought girls need to know how to do that before they go to college, not just during college,” said Meegan. “They usually do classes (like these) at colleges, like UCLA or Pepperdine or universities like that.”
“But I realized that they don’t go to high schools, and these classes teach women basically like how to take care of themselves, be safe in a situation and know how to defend themselves.
The Ali Kemp foundation was named after the 19-year-old eponymous woman was murdered in Kansas. The foundation aims to instruct young women in the art of self-defense by sponsoring events like Meegan’s around the country.
“I’ve set it up with the district,” said Meegan, “and we are going to do these seminars that will help people and keep people safe.”
