JUNE 2014
FREE
The East Cleveland Narrator
One Community, Telling Our Own True Stories
Digital Edition on ECNarrator.com
May 17: On the corner of Terrace Rd. and Superior Ave., Master Artist Ed Parker (le in hat) and Shaw High School Teen Ambassadors of the Teen Collaborative held a
community party to unveil the mural they created. In 2011, the Kresge foundation funded and launched the Collaborative project to support the health of East Cleveland's
young people. Watch a video of the party on EastCleveland.org.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE MOUTHS OF BABES
OUR MISSION
I've lived in East Cleveland
since 1992 and my husband and
I raised our three teens here. I
founded e East Cleveland
Narrator as a platform for all
community members—whose
views are diverse and some‐
times opposing—to provide
factual information and tell our
own true stories of one East
Cleveland.
THE PUBLISHER
May was an exciting month for
e East Cleveland Narrator!
Our first issue hit the streets
and community members sent
in stories.
Two series start this month:
commentaries on education by
former Chambers Elementary
principal Phyllis Banks-Cook
and a health column focused on
seniors.
What I've liked most about
starting e Narrator is meet‐
ing people—like (Cont. p. 6)
SHAW HIGH SCHOOL ALUM HELPS
STUDENTS KEEP IT REAL IN A BOOK
By Donté Gibbs, Cierra Brown
and Da’Nisha Pickens
When you’re working with
twelve teenagers from East
Cleveland and Cleveland’s Slav‐
ic Village, Hough and Cudell
neighborhoods, and they’re
talking about different issues,
things get lively. I am the Youth
Engagement Director at Greater
Cleveland’s Neighborhood
Leadership Institute (NLI). Last
year, my co-workers and I
wanted to bring something dif‐
ferent to youth. We wanted to
truly li up their voices. So we
worked with Mikva Challenge,
a non-profit youth organization
out of Chicago, on the Democ‐
racy in Action program. Its goal
is to help young people find
their voices, become leaders for
change, become more aware of
their surroundings and learn
how to use politics to change
the world.
NLI also worked with NAACP
Cleveland and the American
Civil Liberties Union to get the
program off the ground. We
looked at how people worked
for justice yesterday and today.
e Black Studies Department
at Cleveland State University let
us use their conference room.
We had our own staff person,
computer equipment and CSU
students to help us. Our stu‐
dents learned what it’s like to be
in a university just before they
started 11th and 12th grades.
During the program, the stu‐
dents wrote letters to Governor
Kasich about his comments
about the three young women
who were murdered in East
Cleveland last summer. At the
time of the murders, Kasich
said, “is is what happens
when you have poverty…” Our
students’ letter campaign was
called “is is what happens
when poverty speaks!” ey re‐
ceived responses from Ohio
Senator Nina Turner, U.S. Sena‐
tor Sherrod Brown and the U.S.
Department of Education.
e students also participated
in Soapbox Speech Competi‐
tions in January and June. ey
spoke about issues that were
important to them, community
members, family and friends.
eir speeches were judged by a
panel of adult leaders that in‐
cluded East Cleveland Mayor
Gary Norton Jr.
e first run of the program
was scheduled for April to
November 2013. But when we
“finished,” the students didn’t
want to stop meeting or raising
their voices. So, aer winter
break, we went through the sixweek Young Writers workshop
given by Intelligent Consulting
& Publishing. We collected the
speeches from the Soapbox
Competition, put (Cont. p.3)
_______@ecnarrator_______
THE URBAN
EDUCATOR
WHAT
HAPPENED TO
OUR SCHOOLS?
Video: "SHOULD
WE MERGE?"
On ECNarrator.com
INSIDE
Memorial Day Parade
|3
• “A Stronger, Better”
North Coventry | 4
• Senior Health:
Prostate Cancer
Symptoms | 4
Phyllis Banks-Cook, Ed. S.
Phyllis Banks-Cook is a Profes‐
sional Development Specialist.
She was the principal of Cham‐
bers Elementary School from
2005–2010 and a Cleveland
school principal before that. For
almost twenty years, she has giv‐
en training sessions to teachers.
She also trains educators to be‐
come child development asso‐
ciates. Most of her sessions are
rated "excellent.” is the first
column in her "Urban Educator”
series.
How can we justify paying high
wages to people who work in
failing public schools? ey
might only work about 189 days
out of the year, but they make
good money. Some of them
make major money, depending
on how high their position is,
money for working only five to
six hours a day.
Now don’t get bent (Cont. p. 5)
• Video Snapshot:
"Merger?" | 4
• MC^2 STEM High
School, World-class,
in EC | 5
• Merger? Vote | 5
• Submission
Guidelines; Jobs | 6
• Library Founder's
Day; Historical Marker |
6
• Sheba Marcus Bey—
Library Director;
Library Events | 7
• Local Events | 7
• Boys & Girls Club of
America @ MLK
Center | 8
• Painting: "A Walk in
the Park" | 8