As T Spencer Fano ran into the gymnasium at Riverside School to students' loud cheers, he thought back to when the BYU football team visited his elementary school when he was growing up in Utah. When he saw the faces of students light up as he gave out high fives, the moment came full circle for him.
"Already Cleveland has given me so much. So, I almost feel the need to give back," Fano said. "And then you remember being a kid and being in these situations."
On Oct. 20, C Parker Brailsford, CB Myles Harden and Fano made an appearance as the Browns and the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network hosted a Ron Clark Academy House System assembly at Riverside School. The event was hosted by Riverside Assistant Principal Kyle Cohen, who led the assembly with music and games of giant Connect Four while Brailsford, Fano and Harden joined in.
"It's always great to give back to the kids, the community, wherever you come from," Harden said. "Just because once we were in their shoes, so being able to turn around and do something that I always wanted to do growing up, that's a good feeling."
Launched in 2019 by the Cleveland Browns Foundation and the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, and now managed by Battelle, the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network (SITG!) works to decrease chronic absenteeism. The Network currently partners with 210 school districts and impacts over 620,000 students across Ohio.
Cleveland Metropolitan School District, which Riverside is a part of, has been a member of the SITG! Network since its launch in 2019. Since joining the Network in the 2019-20 school year, Riverside's usage of the resources provided by SITG! has helped support their attendance efforts.
Huntington Bank, a pillar partner of the SITG! Network, paid for 10 educators at Riverside to attend Ron Clark Academy — a nonprofit middle school and educator development center in Atlanta, Ga. — this past summer to learn about their House System through the Ignite the Classroom program. The system, developed by the Ron Clark Academy, serves as a mechanism to foster community and belonging, according to Cohen. Educators equipped with these engagement learning strategies can help support students' attendance efforts. Ignite the Classroom, a Huntington Bank initiative that works to empower educators with innovative teaching strategies, gave the Riverside educators the opportunity to attend.
Riverside has since adopted the system, splitting students into one of five houses at the beginning of the school year. Students can earn points for their house for attendance, displaying good behavior and going above and beyond. Implementing engagement strategies such as the House System helps students feel connected to their school, which can positively impact school attendance, aligning with the mission of the SITG! Network.
"We ran a five-day attendance challenge in the month of September," Cohen said. "It started on a Monday and ended on a Friday and every single day we took an attendance percentage for each house. Then the house that had the best average by the end of the week won 10 house points, which was a big challenge for us. We had 98 percent attendance that entire week of school, which our secretary said in her seven years of being here was hands down the best attendance week we've ever had."
The Cleveland Browns Foundation and Ignite the Classroom also teamed up to donate shirts to each of the students at the assembly to correspond with their houses. The students cheered loudly and jumped with excitement when it was announced that they would be receiving the shirts.
"What a blessing it is to do this work. Huntington is so excited to, once again, partner with the Browns," Huntington Bank National Director of Community Partnerships and Colleague Engagement Christina Brown said. "What a cool way to bring together both organizations with the focus on making sure that our future is bright."
Before they received the shirts, the students competed in games of giant Connect Four with Brailsford, Fano and Harden. Fano huddled up his team to develop a strategy for the final game against Harden's team, where he told them to place each of the pieces along the bottom of the board. The plan worked, as Fano embraced the student who placed the winning piece.
"It was really fun," Fano said. "I thought it was so cool how everyone was so into it."
All the students, along with Brailsford, Fano and Harden, took a group picture with their new shirts on at the outdoor playground to end the assembly. A couple of the students came up to Cohen during that time and told him how the assembly was the best day of school they've ever had.
"It's hard to even put into words, but it's moments like this of why I keep doing this," Cohen said. "It's memories that kids will carry for the rest of their life. It is the fact that they're going to go home and they're going to remember this day of school forever. And that's what matters."
