Cleveland Browns players make a stop at Clark Elementary to promote “Get 2 School. You Can Make It”
Small acts of kindness can reap huge rewards. This could be said about the Cleveland Browns players (LB D’Juan Hines, K Greg Joseph, LB Christian Kirksey and DB Damarious Kirksey as well as Official Cleveland Browns Mascot Chomps) visit to Clark Elementary School in Cleveland on their day off. They were there to celebrate with the 3rd grade students and faculty their significant improvement and commitment to attendance this year as part of the “Get 2 School. You Can Make It” campaign.
It will be years before the magnitude of this visit will be measured but judging by the reaction of the students to the players it is a moment that will be strongly imprinted in their memories. For some this could be a turning point in their education as they begin to think about high school and later.
The players first met with the students in their class room to talk about the importance that a good education had on their lives and to recite the attendance pledge in order to pledge their commitment to education. Each student received a Cleveland Browns official string bag full of team logo school supplies.
Afterwards everyone went down to the cafeteria/gym area for a series of team contests. The players were made honorary team captains and the competitive nature of the Cleveland Browns players shone as they helped their team win.
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s “Get 2 School. You Can Make It” attendance campaign is in its third year with attendance rising by nearly 22% that in real numbers means 4,100 additional students affected. It was noticed that missing just 10 days in the year can result in a drop of an entire grade level. With this interest in attendance the students have better chances to learn, graduate from high school and further their education in college.
The visit was part of the Cleveland Browns Give Back. The Cleveland Browns are dedicated to #give10 s part of the First and Ten Initiative. This program that was begun in June of 2014 encourages fans to sign up on the Cleveland Browns Web Site (click on “Community”) and pledge 10 hours of community service per year. Once they have fulfilled their pledged time they can return to the web site and post about their experiences.
Through First and Ten, the Browns are the only NFL club to promote a long-term volunteering program that unifies the team and its entire fan base, with the goal of impacting every individual’s city across the globe, as well as the franchise’s local community.
The Cleveland Browns are a signature partner for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s “Get 2 School, You Can Make It!” attendance campaign. The Browns work hand in hand with CMSD to help solve the problem and remove barriers of students being chronically absent from school, which is defined as missing 10 percent of a school year for any reason. Studies show that for CMSD students, missing even 10 days of school has a significant negative impact on test scores and puts students at risk for not graduating. Since the inception of the “Get 2 School” attendance campaign, CMSD has reduced the number of off-track students by nearly 22 percent. This means more than 4,100 students improved their attendance habits compared to the baseline average and are on the path to success in both school and life.