CLEVELAND — A few weeks ago, some Cleveland high school students were in tears as they shared concerns about school safety with the city council.


What You Need To Know

  • LaShauna Carter is a junior at Glenville High School who said she doesn’t feel safe in school or at home

  • In a recent visit to city council with a group call the PEARLS, which stands for Positively Empowering and Restoring Ladies Self-esteem

  • Cleveland PEARLS was founded by Brittney Smith in 2020 after she spent years as a wrap-around coordinator at Glenville and noticed students needed extra help

  • The organization connects girls with mentors that help uplift them, encourages service work to create a sense of connection to the community, and provides free closets with clothes for girls in need

One of those students, LaShauna Carter, is a junior at Glenville High School, who said she doesn’t feel safe in school or at home.

“As a Black young female, I shouldn’t feel this way,” she said in the council meeting. “I shouldn’t feel unsafe. And, I’m the person that’s scared I might not make it to my graduation, that I might not make it across the stage because my friends are being shot every day.”

Carter is an athlete — playing on the school’s basketball and softball teams.

But she was visiting city hall with a group call the PEARLS, which stands for Positively Empowering and Restoring Ladies Self-esteem.

“It’s a good way to help with my mental health, work on my coping skills and just meet some new people,” Carter said.

For young people, Carter and her friends, including junior Nyla Dillard, have gone through a lot — having lost several loved ones to gun violence already.

Dillard said there’s a phenomenon known as the “Glenville Curse” at their school.

“The Glenville Curse is how every year since I’ve been here, a senior has passed away before they can graduate,” she said.

While grieving the loss of their peers, these students have no choice but to continue pushing forward.

Cleveland PEARLS was founded by Brittney Smith in 2020 after she spent years as a wrap-around coordinator at Glenville and noticed students needed extra help.

“I remember a teacher had a situation with a student,” Smith said. “The student had a couple of issues within the class. Teacher sends the student to me, and once we broke down the situation, hunger was the challenge. It was a food insecurity, so the kid was simply just hungry.”

Smith said many students who were struggling with basic needs had trouble performing in the classroom and elsewhere, some being labeled “bad kids” by teachers or peers.

She said girls in particular were hard on themselves and each other.

“They feel like they don’t have anything in common or they may be scared to connect with other girls due to past situations like bullying or something like that,” Smith said. “But what we like to promote is that we have more similarities than differences, and sometimes it takes just letting that wall down to connect with somebody that could be your next best friend.”

PEARLS connects girls with mentors that help uplift them, encourages service work to create a sense of connection to the community, and provides free closets with clothes for girls in need.

“We wanted to provide an opportunity to learn about themselves so they can extend that love to other people,” Smith said.

Despite what they’re going through, Smith said these girls are capable of so much.

“I know what it’s like to be a kid in the inner city and have all these stereotypes placed on you without having the support there too,” she said.

That’s the gap Smith is trying to fill with the PEARLS.

And though she can’t fix everything, just being there makes a difference in little ways that matter.

“I like to talk to Ms. Brittney,” Carter said. “She makes me feel comfortable enough to open up and talk to her about my personal issues, my school life and my home life. She just makes me feel comfortable.”

Cleveland City Council recently recognized Smith and the PEARLS for their service work and for empowering young people when they need it most.