As 30 middle school students sat around tables in a classroom at Garfield Heights Middle School, they each drew their own cleat designs on worksheets.
They worked on their drawings with the knowledge their designs could be used to decorate cleats for a Browns player during the NFL's league-wide My Cause My Cleats initiative during the 2026 season. Yet, as they illustrated their drawings, they received a special surprise.
Chomps brought out boxes of new shoes for each student, and their faces lit up with excitement at the pair of shoes placed in front of them. The students then had the opportunity to either continue designing cleats for a future Stay in the Game! Ambassador to wear during My Cause My Cleats or could customize their new pair of shoes.
"They've showed up to school every day, they're doing what we're asking them to do, so we give them an opportunity to be a little more creative," Garfield Heights City Schools Superintendent Dr. Richard Reynolds said. "We love giving them the opportunity. And I'm walking around and I'm seeing some real artists in there. They are really, really good at this."
Garfield Heights City School District has been a part of the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network since the 2021-22 school year and has utilized the resources provided to continue their efforts to decrease chronic absenteeism in the district. The 30 students who were awarded the shoes were selected for their active improvement in attendance.
"These students are students that went from at-risk [for chronic absenteeism] to satisfactory [attendance]," Garfield Heights City Schools Supervisor of Special Education Tonya Antill said. "They are our most improved students, and so absolutely we want to recognize them."
One of the leading barriers to consistent attendance is having access to clothes and shoes. Through the NFL's My Cause My Cleats initiative, Browns Give Back donated an additional 36 Nike shoes for Garfield Heights City Schools to use as they need to ensure that access to shoes will not be a barrier to daily school attendance.
During a two-week span of the NFL season, players across the league have the opportunity to pick a cause important to them and represent that organization on a pair of custom designed cleats as a part of the league-wide initiative My Cause My Cleats – first launched in 2016. The initiative has created a connection between the NFL and players to allow them to create their art and represent philanthropic organizations, passions and movements through individual designs.
For the past three seasons, Browns players who have been Stay in the Game! Ambassadors have sported student-designed cleats in support of the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network.
The Stay in the Game! Attendance Network, launched by the Cleveland Browns Foundation, Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and Harvard's Proving Ground – now managed by Battelle – aims to support students while striving to increase school attendance. The Network partners with 239 districts and impacts more than 612,000 students throughout Ohio, which includes hosting events at local schools to encourage students to come to school each day.
"The Browns have been so consistent," Reynolds said of their partnership. "They've been consistent since I've been the superintendent here in the school district. They've showed up. We've called and requested things, and they've been able to participate in some things. They have been a wonderful partner, and we want to continue this partnership so that we can do this for several years to come."
