Education News from Your Community Foundation

Program creates strong paths to careers for Cleveland students

There are many paths to a fulfilling career — college, training, apprenticeships and direct-to-the-workforce opportunities, among others. The Linking Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) Students to Career Pathways and Living Wage Jobs initiative is focused on helping all Cleveland students connect to and be prepared for a career pathway based on their interests, strengths and aspirations, aligned to the talent needs of the regional economy. This is a community-wide effort involving a collaboration between CMSD, employers, nonprofit agencies, philanthropy and the public sector.

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Two years of Say Yes Cleveland

January 2021 marked the two-year anniversary of Cleveland being named a chapter of Say Yes to Education. In addition to providing college tuition scholarships to Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) students, the program has been implementing a suite of wraparound services to support Cleveland students across the district.

Recently, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation contributed $500,000 toward Say Yes Cleveland support services. And with support from the Cleveland and George Gund foundations, Say Yes Cleveland is bringing physical and mental health services to four CMSD schools as part of a pilot program. Plans call for gradually expanding the support to all district and partner charter schools in the coming years.

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Become a College Now mentor!

The College Now Mentoring Program is a virtual program that connects Say Yes and College Now scholarship recipients with mentors who have two- or four-year college degrees and who can help guide students through college. Pairs are connected via an online platform and receive talking points, support and event opportunities through College Now. This is also a great way to have a personal impact on the success of the Say Yes initiative, by helping students not only get to college, but through college.

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COVID and the college experience

College can be a big adjustment for any first-year student, and many students who started their college journey in the fall of 2020 are having difficulty adjusting to additional challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

College Now Greater Cleveland, which administers the Say Yes Cleveland scholarship program and manages the mentoring program for Say Yes scholarship recipients, has worked to do more to support students in new and different ways during this unprecedented time.

Esperanza ($400,000) – This funding will continue to ensure Latinx students receive the culturally competent supports they need to overcome academic and nonacademic barriers to success at eight Cleveland Metropolitan School District campuses, while also utilizing mentoring programs to improve graduation rates and postsecondary success.
College Now Greater Cleveland ($360,000) – To provide increased administrative and coordination support that is necessary to continue phasing in Say Yes Cleveland wraparound student support services, out-of-school-time programming, and the expanded use of the student information system. This grant supports the extension of Say Yes services to 23 Cleveland Metropolitan School District schools and three Breakthrough Schools, bringing the total to 42 Say Yes schools.

More recent grants