CLEVELAND – As the Say Yes Cleveland program continues to grow, it's doing it with the help of people playing a critical role within the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and in the lives of district families.

What You Need To Know

  • Currently, support specialists are in 69 schools in CMSD, but more are being added to cover the entire district next school year

  • They are helping to remove all the barriers to education from Pre-k to 12th grade

  • Some supports include free legal aid, mental health support and referrals, help with housing and food insecurity

Through COVID and beyond, support specialists have taken on the role of making sure all students they serve in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District succeed.

Lekisha Rogers, who serves at Joseph M. Gallagher Elementary School, said that goal doesn't just start in the classroom. Rather, the goal is to help entire families outside of the classroom as oftentimes extenuating circumstances impact kids inside the classroom. Support offered can look like providing clothes or “Free Legal Aid, we offer that. We offer support and referrals to mental health. We also offer support to food insecurity… for housing insecurity,” explained Rogers.  

When she's not addressing the basic necessities, Rogers said, they're “talking about things like goal setting. We're talking about deciding what you want to do when you grow up. We're talking about that when they're in kindergarten so that by the time they get to 12th grade, they've already set a plan in motion.”

It's all things that are setting students on a path to obtain a successful career and productive life.

For many kids, “It changes the trajectory of a student as they matriculate through school,” said Rogers. So as she continues to help as many as she can, she just hopes she'll see even more of a positive impact as families and their students fully understand that the help is available. 

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