Browns Give Back Focuses on Improving Education and Youth Development in Northeast Ohio

As part of Browns Give Back’s commitment to education, financial grants and other resources are provided to local, education non-profits to ensure youth in Northeast Ohio receive the education and development they need as a foundation for independence and success. Browns Give Back has impacted over 58,000 lives through direct program support, and has identified three areas of impact – school attendance, early learning and college and career readiness – with the goal of identifying opportunities, removing barriers and providing support for students to empower them for long-term success. Below highlights the exceptional work of the Browns’ community partners and their profound dedication to improving the lives and education of local youth in our communities. Cleveland Metropolitan School District “Get 2 School. You Can Make It!” Attendance Campaign The Cleveland Browns are a signature partner for Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s (CMSD) “Get 2 School. You Can Make It!” attendance campaign. The Browns work hand in hand with CMSD to help address 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 graduation rates. The campaign has reached its goal for two years in a row, reducing at-risk absenteeism by 10 percent, which means thousands of more students are in school and on-track for academic success. Special Teams Package with Shoes and Clothes for Kids For some parents in Northeast Ohio, replacing their child’s outgrown shoes, ripped pair of pants, or tattered notebook is a minor inconvenience. But for tens of thousands of Cleveland families living in poverty, it can instead be a time of anxiety, frustration, and low self-worth as they struggle to outfit their children with basic clothing and school supplies. Shoes and Clothes for Kids and Browns Give Back teamed up to find a better way to deliver clothes and school uniforms to Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) students experiencing severe economic hardship. Special Teams Package provides a quick, customized delivery of three school uniforms, casual clothes, shoe gift card and other school supplies to students in need to remove clothing as a barrier to school attendance. The program is showing promising results after year one. CMSD students with relatively high absentee levels saw their attendance rates increase by more than 10 percent after receiving a clothing package. The Centers for Families and Children and 2,000 Days Pledge More than any other stage in life, the 2,000 days between birth and kindergarten have the single greatest effect on a child’s life. The Cleveland Browns proudly supports the 2,000 Days pledge, which is a movement focused on spreading awareness about the importance of early childhood development and helping families maximize this critical time period. For families who have taken the pledge, 2,000 Days provides ongoing information via text or e-mail that includes activities that families can do at home, tips on everyday parenting and ways to partner with preschool teachers. Ginn Academy and the Life Coaches Program Ginn Academy is the first all-male public school in the state of Ohio. The Cleveland Browns supports Ginn’s Life Coach program, which provides student with a 24/7 mentor in the areas of academics, behavior, attendance and social-emotional development. Each life coach is assigned 25 students and serves as a link between home and school. Ginn Academy serves over 400 students and the school averages an impressive 95 percent graduation rate. College Now Greater Cleveland and the Marion Motley Scholarship Browns Give Back and College Now Greater Cleveland annually awards two $10,000 scholarships to deserving students and the scholarship targets low-income, first-generation students. Since its inception, the program has provided $240,000 in scholarship funds to 24 deserving students. Among Marion Motley Scholarship recipients, 92 percent graduated or are on track to graduate, significantly surpassing the 18 percent national average among comparable demographics. Cuyahoga County, Invest in Children, and the Glenville Preschool Center Cuyahoga County’s early childhood public/private partnership known as Invest in Children, launched the county's nationally recognized Universal Pre-Kindergarten program in 2007. The program enables low and moderate income families to access high-quality preschool, which improves school readiness among disadvantaged children. The Cleveland Browns is proud to support the opening of the Glenville Early Learning Center, a new preschool in one of Cleveland’s most impoverished neighborhoods, serving 40 students each year. The Browns Give Back to Northeast Ohio with a commitment to education and youth football while engaging the community through the team’s signature First and Ten volunteer movement. For more information about community programs the Browns’ support, visit www.clevelandbrowns.com/brownsgiveback.

Community

Browns Give Back Focuses on Improving Education and Youth Development in Northeast Ohio