Over 30 high school students from Maple Heights High School spent their day at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus participating in the "Cleveland Huddle Pathway" hosted by the Browns.
This was the third consecutive year the Browns held the "Cleveland Huddle Pathway" in celebration of Black History Month. The event served as an opportunity to inspire future changemakers on a wide array of careers available in the sports industry outside of being a professional athlete, as well as insights into the current challenges in the industry. By providing a pathway to create an interest in a specific career path, it can serve as a motivator for high school students and encourage them to attend school regularly.
In conjunction with the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network, the 38 high school students from Maple Heights High School were chosen to attend the event as a reward for being leaders in their school and showing a commitment to improved and good school attendance. The Stay in the Game! Attendance Network is a statewide movement and learning network designed to dramatically improve attendance for Ohio students. The Network currently partners with 239 Ohio school districts to positively impact more than 612,000 students through attendance support and interventions.
"I thought it was a great opportunity for them to gather a lot of information that they might not have gotten just being in a high school environment," Maple Heights High School football coach Shaq Washington said. "And I think one of the biggest takeaways that we had was the importance of networking and how far it can take you in this life, and meaningful networking at that. And I think a lot of kids, they can hear that, and now they can start working towards that as they move forward in the next chapter of their lives."
Following a tour of CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in which they saw both the football and business operations of the Browns, they ended the day with a panel moderated by News 5 Cleveland sports reporter Camryn Justice. Browns Chief Communications Officer Peter John-Baptiste kicked off the panel to welcome to the students to the Browns organization.
"One of my favorite things to do is to have young kids come into our building to understand and learn about all the opportunities that are here in professional sports," John-Baptiste said. "Many of you all see what's going on the field. You see players, you see coaches, but rarely do you really understand and think about all the other opportunities that might come that you might have if you can't make it to the field."
The panel included Browns staff members from different areas of the organization, including account executive Keishon Lanier, HSG fellow Shannon Lipscomb, legal coordinator Danika Austin and associate producer Noah Stitt.
Students also asked questions to the individuals on the panel and were able to gain insight about everyone's journey through high school and college, while voicing the importance of education and networking. In addition, students learned how each job functions within the organization and how important relationships are in the business of sport.
"I think it was a good experience for us to figure out what we want to do," Mike Banks, a senior at Maple Heights High School, said. "Most of us here, we're seniors, and are figuring out what we want to do going into life, with internships or whatever career path they want to take. So, having good advice from the past people that came before us was great."
The "Cleveland Huddle Pathway" is one of the different avenues that is a part of the Browns' Cleveland Huddle campaign. In its sixth year of programming, the Cleveland Huddle campaign integrates into the team's Be The Solution platform as part of Browns Give Back, accompanied by programming aimed to foster unity and support within Northeast Ohio.
The Browns continued their efforts to champion Black-owned restaurants, providing breakfast by The Breakfast Faktory, a Cleveland Huddle restaurant, to the students upon arrival. The Cleveland Huddle program gives Browns fans, staff, coaches and players a chance to actively support local restaurants. Since the program's inception, they have helped make a positive impact for 25 different businesses in Cleveland.
