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When
school, community and business leaders gather for the third
annual Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Army of
Believers Scholarship Luncheon on August 5, 2009,
they will do more than honor the ‘Five-Star Generals” among
their growing list of donors. Not only will they celebrate
the success of the scholarship event, but also the role they
play in inspiring a growing number of CMSD students to
graduate and transition to college.
In
2006, when CEO Dr. Eugene T.W. Sanders took the helm of the
Cleveland Metropolitan School District, he envisioned a
premier school district--one where students wore uniforms and
attended schools based on their needs and their interests
rather than on their neighborhoods. He envisioned boarding
schools for both bright and at-risk students. To accomplish
this, he reached out to staff and community with a call for
them to join him on a journey “from vision to victory.”
What
began as widespread applause from educators, civic leaders,
corporate heads, business owners, and citizens who welcomed
the CEO’s “renaissance” in public education, has evolved into
an Army of Believers. A growing list of
financial supporters whose faith and confidence in the CEO’s
vision has made possible what otherwise might not have been
attainable for many Cleveland students.
The
Army of Believers Scholarship, formed in 2007, plays a
significant role in both increasing and improving educational
opportunities and choices for CMSD students. In two years,
more than $422,000 has been raised for scholarships to help
seniors make the transition from high school to college and,
once there, to help with college expenses.
The
annual Army of Believers Scholarship Luncheon not only
raises money for students, but also provides an opportunity
for CMSD to recognize some of its influential supporters.
Recognized at the event are the Five Star Generals who have
provided outstanding support, making significant difference in
the lives of CMSD students.
Nine
distinguished individuals were recognized as Five Star
Generals at the 2008 Army of Believers Scholarship
Luncheon: David Abbott, Executive Director of the
George Gund Foundation; Leon D. Bibb, veteran
journalist and broadcaster for WEWS-TV; Gregory S. Boyd,
Founder and President of Results Engineering; Daniel
Gilbert, Chairman and Founder of Quicken Loans and
Majority Owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers; Robert W.
Gillespie, Chairman Emeritus and former CEO of KeyCorp; Kenneth
Lanci, President of Consolidated Graphics Group, Inc.;
Daniel R. McCarthy, Founding Senior Principal of McCarthy,
Lebit, Crystal & Liffman Co., L.P.A.; Michael B. Petras,
Jr., President & CEO of GE Lighting & Industrial Division;
C. J. Prentiss, former State Senator and
currently Special Representative to Governor Ted Strickland’s
initiative for increasing graduation rates in Ohio; Robert
H. Rawson, Jr., partner in the Jones Day law firm and
Chairman of the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education;
and Ronn B. Richard, President & CEO of the Cleveland
Foundation.
Five
Star Generals selected for recognition at the first Army of
Believers Scholarship Luncheon in 2007 were: Cleveland
Mayor Frank G. Jackson; U.S. District Court Judge
Patricia Ann Hemann, Carolyn Brown of the Cavs
Better Halves, Braylon Edwards, wide receiver for the
Cleveland Browns, Hugh McKay, Senior Partner in the
Porter Wright Morris and Arthur law firm, Stephen C. Morris,
founder of the Cleveland Schools Book Fund, Andrew Rayburn,
founder of The Human Fund and Mark A. Stefanski,
Chairman and CEO of Third Federal Savings and Loan. |
