Cleveland Browns kick off school attendance program during Orange and Brown Scrimmage

No doubt about it, the Cleveland Browns are big news this year. It is evident by the amount of fans attending practice at the Berea, Ohio training facility. It is evident by the amount of national coverage they are receiving. It is especially evident by the thousands of fans who poured into First Energy Field just to watch the Orange and Brown Scrimmage.

You would think that with all this additional activity that the team would cut back a bit on its off field charitable activities. If you think this you would be wrong. If anything the team is stepping up its community involvement.

On Saturday, August 3, 2019 the Cleveland Browns Foundation along with the Ohio Department of Education and Proving Ground at Harvard University hosted the Get 2 School, Stay in the Game Network in the stadium’s Lake Club as they introduced a statewide initiative designed to promote school attendance and put an end to chronic absenteeism.

Over 500 educators, students and family members were in attendance as the voice of the Cleveland Browns, Jim Donovan introduced various speakers. On the dais was Ohio’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Paolo De Maria, Cleveland Browns owner Dee Haslam, a representative of the Ohio Department of Education and Alumnus CB Michael Lehan now principle of Osseo, Minnesota Senior High School.

Michael Lehan related about growing up in the Wisconsin Foster Care system and managing to get college scholarship which led to his career as a professional football player. After three years with the Browns and another three years with the Miami Dauphins he went back to college to get his Master’s Degree that led to his current job as principle of a Senior High School.

The launch was held prior to the Cleveland Browns Orange and Brown Scrimmage. After the speakers were done explaining the new program that targets the main reasons for students missing class a delicious catered lunch was served. After lunch it was time for the scrimmage and all attendees were invited to watch the Offense and Defense in action on the field.

The Get 2 School Network has been designed on the basis of team effort using the network’s website Get2School.org as the backbone of the program. Participants are invited to sign up and connect with each other, state and national experts while utilizing the high quality attendance focused campaign materials and strategies as well as evaluation tools. The website is available to all Ohio schools and districts at no cost.

As a further commitment to the new program, the $5 per fan fee to attend the Orange and Brown Scrimmage was donated to the Cleveland Browns foundation Get 2 School, Stay in the Game Network. The Cleveland Browns also donated the net proceeds from sales at the training camp Pro Shop as well as the FirstEnergy Stadium’s Pro Shop.

The Cleveland Foundation has been a champion of school attendance since 2015 when it first developed a partnership with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District which at that time reported a chronic absentee rate of 35 percent. By removing attendance related barriers such as supporting a local clothing program that supplied much needed uniform and clothing packages chronic absenteeism was cut 5% by the 2017-2018 school year.

The Ohio Department of Education is on a five year mission to prepare each school age child success through a system of equity, partnership and quality schools in order to maximize individual strengths of each individual.

Proving Ground is an initiative of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University which works with states and school districts to identify and develop specific tools to deal with chronic absenteeism. Using data analysis, strategic advice, hands-on assistance and peer networking opportunities Proving Ground identifies solutions by testing those answers and determining the next step in the process. The organization currently works with more than 20 Ohio School Districts.

The Cleveland Browns Give Back Program is committed to education and youth football by engaging the community through the team’s signature First and Ten volunteer movement. For more information go to www.clevelandbrowns.com/brownsgiveback.

The First and Ten campaign began in June of 2015 that encourages fans worldwide to #give10 by volunteering for 10 hours of community service each year. The initiative is the only long term program of its kind in the entire NFL whose goal is to impact individual cities around the world as well as the local community. As of this writing the program has racked up nearly two million hours of volunteer work. Fans are invited to visit the team website where they can pledge their time and then later return to write about the experiences with #give10.

Lastly, the Cleveland Browns are committed in assisting in the development, safety and growth of youth and high school football throughout the Northeast Ohio area by providing year round programs for players, coaches, officials and parents through a series of camps, clinics and other initiatives. The team’s goal is to promote healthy, social, emotional, intellectual and physical development of youth by providing enhancing opportunities for youth participation and education.