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.