Kyle Collins, an assistant floor director at the Seven Hills Meijer, led a drill where students ran routes and caught a pass from Collins. This was Collins’ second Gym Class Takeover after volunteering at the takeover at Stephanie Tubbs Jones School in October 2024.
“We’ve been doing these now since I’ve been in the Cleveland market, which is coming up on three years with Meijer and they’re always a lot of fun,” Collins said. “It’s a great partnership we have. It’s one thing to have a banner up at a stadium, but to really be able to engage in the communities with the Browns really just takes that partnership to the next level.”
Launched in 2019 by the Cleveland Browns Foundation, Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and Harvard’s Proving Ground, the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network, now managed by Battelle, works together to reduce chronic absenteeism by bringing together experts, partners and communities. Together, the Network partners with 227 districts and impacts more than 595,000 students throughout Ohio.
The Parma City School District joined the network in the 2023-24 school year, and since, the district has continued its strong efforts to encourage students to come to school each day.
“It’s really great because we talk about Stay! In The Game, so for us as a school, that means getting students into school and avoiding chronic absenteeism,” Principal of Thoreau Park Elementary School Ted Bickley said. “That’s a huge problem nationwide and a huge problem here. Really anything we can do to motivate students to get to school is an awesome thing.”
Bickley said that the games the third graders participated in were more than just about having fun in the gymnasium and being rewarded for coming to school. He noted that it not only helped them build muscles and fine motor skills but also strengthened their character and teamwork.