After completing a Teacher Education Exploration program in her senior year of high school, Kayla Brown knew she wanted to be a teacher. What she didn't know at the time was that her teaching journey would lead her to University Hospitals (UH) Rainbow Babies & Children's.
Brown graduated from Ashland University in 2019 and taught in schools for four years before becoming a UH Rainbow Educator in 2023. In her role as Lubrizol Endowed Director for Education, she works one-on-one with patients of all ages and collaborates with their respective schools to help them stay on track while they are in the hospital.
On Nov. 4, the Browns Stay in the Game! Attendance Network visited UH Rainbow Babies and Children's to spotlight the work that Brown and UH Rainbow are doing to ensure students can learn even while they're not in the classroom, directly aligning with the Network's mission to support students in learning every day.
"The biggest challenges for kids being here are that they're not in a school environment with their teacher one-on-one, and a lot of kids need that one-on-one support or somebody being with them," Brown said. "There are online programs, but there's not a physical teacher there to help them with the work so that's really hard for kids. And for me to be able to be lend that support and work with them is really helpful."
The Stay in the Game! Attendance Network, launched by the Cleveland Browns Foundation, Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, and Harvard's Proving Ground, strives to decrease the chronic absenteeism rate in Northeast Ohio. The Network partners with 235 districts and impacts more than 600,000 students throughout Ohio, which includes hosting events at local schools to encourage students to come to school each day. Through SITG! and the Browns' partnership with University Hospitals, they are collaborating to help kids learn – even if their learning doesn't come in a traditional format. Brown is providing a platform for patients to have accessible learning opportunities even while they are in the hospital.
Brown goes through her census each day to see what kids need help. Some kids are just in the hospital for a day, but others are in the hospital for an extended period of time. Brown has a schedule with these kids to routinely help them with their schoolwork and keep them on pace with what they were previously learning in school.
One of these patients was a 9-year-old who was in the hospital for almost 200 consecutive days following a bone marrow transplant. Brown had to stay in constant communication with her teacher to receive classwork for the patient and then send the work back to her teacher to make sure they didn't fall behind. Brown and the patient had a designated time they would complete schoolwork and, as a result, she was able to keep pace with her classmates and went onto the next grade as scheduled.
"Even though they're not actually in school, while they are here, they can do school to give them some sense of normalcy while they are hospitalized," Brown said. "[It's about] keeping them involved in their schoolwork so they can stay caught up, even if they're here for like a week or two weeks because work can really pile up depending on the school."
During the visit, DE Isaiah McGuire and Browns mascot Chomps sat in and assisted Brown with one of her students, Aidan. McGuire asked Aidan questions about himself and complimented his wildlife pajamas before helping him with his math worksheets. After completing all of the problems, they took a photo holding up the completed exercise, with Aidan still in disbelief about who was helping him add numbers together.
"Look who helped me with my homework," Aidan said to the room.
Brown, in addition to teaching patients like Aidan at the hospital, also helps them transition back into class. She works with schools to provide students with plans that can help students by giving them extra time on homework or tests, or excused absences due to being in the hospital. She's looking to expand her role further into also becoming a field trip "chaperone".
Brown is in the process of bringing field trips to the hospital, so patients don't feel left out of trips happening at school. She is working with local Cleveland organizations like the Natural History Museum or the Museum of Contemporary Art to come to the hospital.
"It kind of came to me when I had a lot of kids missing out on field trips and being really sad because their friends are on a field trip and they're stuck in the hospital," Brown said. "So, we are trying to partner with them to kind of bring mobile field trips to the hospital so like once a quarter they can come and do some sort of interactive activity with the kids. I mean I can go in there, but I probably get boring, so to have somebody new bringing new fun things in would be good."
For Brown, her approach goes back to giving her students a sense of routine amid the uncertainty of what hospital stays can bring. The Stay in the Game! Attendance Network shares this same commitment to ensuring every student has access to meaningful learning experiences, whether that learning takes place in a classroom or in a hospital. Together, University Hospitals and SITG! are helping students stay inspired to keep learning every day, no matter their circumstances.
"School is something they can control," Brown said. "So having something that's normal for them that they would do if they were home, I feel like helps and gives them something to look forward to be like, 'I still am in school and can go back to school.'"
