West Holmes High School in Millersburg will host motivational speaker and author Damon West on Feb. 12–13, 2026, according to a Your Ohio News report published Oct. 22, 2025. The two-day engagement, which organizers describe as open to students and the public, centers on themes of resilience, positive change, and West’s personal narrative of recovery from addiction and incarceration. The event was arranged through discussions between West Holmes Local School District superintendent Eric Jurkovic and treasurer Jamie Mullet, with local connections cited as a possible channel for coordination.

The announcement brings a high-profile speaker to a county where youth programming and personal-development resources can have outsized impact. Holmes County is largely rural with an economy tied to agriculture and small businesses; speakers who address overcoming adversity and goal-setting may complement school-based guidance services and local efforts to support students facing academic, social, or family pressures. Damon West, author of The Coffee Bean and a speaker who has built a national reputation on narratives of transformation, has previously focused his work on turning personal setbacks into catalysts for change.

Although the Your Ohio News article provides primary public notice of the visit, the West Holmes Local School District has not posted the event on its website or Facebook as of the time of the report. The district announcement referenced in the news article appears to have been a press release or internal notice not readily accessible through the district’s standard public channels. That gap underscores an administrative issue for residents: when community events involve outside speakers and are described as open to the public, timely and visible communication from the school district helps families plan attendance and assess relevance.

Local officials named in the reporting—superintendent Eric Jurkovic and treasurer Jamie Mullet—are identified as having facilitated the arrangement, but additional details remain to be confirmed. Important practical information that has not been independently verified includes the exact schedule for each day, whether registration or capacity limits will apply, and any target audience restrictions. Those details matter for families who may wish to attend and for school leaders evaluating how such programming fits into broader curricular and extracurricular priorities.

Beyond immediate logistics, the event prompts broader questions about community engagement and institutional transparency. Public schools are civic institutions; when they host external presenters, routine practices such as posting event notices on official channels and sharing program objectives help ensure accountability and informed participation. For a county where local institutions serve as hubs of civic life, clear communication strengthens trust between school administrators, parents, and residents.

Residents seeking confirmation or further details should watch for updates from the West Holmes Local School District and consult the Your Ohio News article dated Oct. 22, 2025, for the initial report. As the Feb. 12–13 dates approach, clearer public notices from the district would help families and community members take advantage of the opportunity or raise questions about program content and access.