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BarJournal COLuMN
JULY/AUGUST 2015
TIOn By HElPIng ClEvEland wIn
SAY YES TO EDUCATION,
fOUndaTIOn COnTInUES ITS
Bar fOUnda
TranSfOrMaTIvE MISSIOn
Stephanie Dutchess Trudeau
CMbF President
ife changing. Award winning. Cleveland’s application to bring Say Yes to Cleveland Mock Trial are rewarded with a paid
Transformative. Those words Education by filling one of the elements in summer internship at the Cleveland Municipal
describe the programs supported the wrap-around services model which is a Court. Coached by volunteer attorneys and law
by the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar requirement of Say Yes. Services to improve students, the teams take turns representing the
L Foundation. The Foundation is students’ college readiness with academic and prosecution and defense in a criminal appeal.
where the legal, business, and civic sectors of social-emotional support are other elements Teams hone their legal skills and learn about
Cleveland unite to raise funds to lift up those in important to Say Yes. For years, the Foundation important issues facing teens today while
need and our next generation. Many programs has been supporting and funding precisely debating solutions to assigned topics such as
are changing lives one person at a time. Allow these types of programs. the opioid crisis, police encounters, driving
me to brag to you about some of them, starting The 3Rs: Rights, Responsibilities, Realities while texting, and digital hacking.
with a success story ripped from the headlines. is a landmark program where 3Rs lawyers, Louis Stokes Scholars Program is the college
Affirmation of the Foundation’s impact is judges, law students, and paralegals teach classes program readiness and retention piece of the
the January 2019 announcement by Say Yes about the U.S. Constitution to high school diversity pipeline for graduates of the Cleveland
to Education that it is coming to Cleveland. juniors and seniors during the regular school Metropolitan School District. Its mission is to
This means college will be virtually free for all day in the Cleveland and East Cleveland School assist minority and economically disadvantaged
graduates of the Cleveland Metropolitan School Districts. In 2018, Cleveland 11th grade social students from the CMBA 3Rs partnership
District, starting with this year’s senior class. studies scores on proficiency exams increased school districts who are interested in pursuing
The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation 17.2%. During these classroom lessons with careers in the law. During their college years,
helped bring Say Yes to Cleveland. high schoolers, the volunteers give guidance the program provides paid summer internships,
One of the requirements of Say Yes is legal about how students can plan their futures and mentors and resources to the students, most of
clinics in the schools. The Foundation helped achieve goals beyond high school. The real world whom are first generation college attendees.
fill that requirement by supporting the program curriculum designed by the Bar Association Summer Legal Academy is designed to
known as TLC at the CMSD: “The Legal Clinics is based on actual factual scenarios to seize reduce the overwhelming racial inequity
at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.” the students’ attention. One of the goals of the of membership in the legal professional by
program is to encourage minorities to pursue introducing minority students to their potential
TLC at the CMSD legal careers, addressing the need for greater to succeed in college and law school. Students
At the invitation of Eric Gordon, CEO of diversity in law-related positions. are high school seniors. They experience three
the Cleveland Schools and the Legal Aid Ohio Mock Trial Competition provides weeks on campus at law school, field trips to local
Society of Cleveland, the CMBA launched a local high school students a chance to compete courts and individual internship assignments.
series of pilot clinics in the spring of 2017 at in a real world courtroom setting to learn more They attend lunch and learn sessions at the
Glenville and Lincoln-West High Schools. In about the law and the legal profession. It is a CMBA to meet and interact with Louis Stokes
2018, we conducted pilot clinics at Glenville statewide competition held in stages for teams Scholars who give them encouragement and
and George Washington Carver schools for to advance through District and Regional practical advice on going to college. Students
students in grades K-8. By placing clinics trials. The Cuyahoga District Competition in the Summer Legal Academy can earn an
onsite in the schools, we increased access to became the largest in Ohio after the CMBA internship with a stipend and the top student
legal services for families of students. Unmet began hosting all teams from our area in 2016. in the program is rewarded with a scholarship.
legal needs are often an impediment to family Statewide, the Ohio High School Mock Trial is
stability. This can have a negative impact on the second largest program in the nation. It is
student attendance and success in school. the largest non-athletic competition in Ohio. Stephanie Dutchess Trudeau is President of
Landlord-tenant and housing-related legal Cleveland Mock Trial was developed by the the Foundation, a 3Rs volunteer teacher and a
issues can cause unsettled living conditions CMBA specifically for students in the Cleveland partner at Ulmer & Berne LLP, specializing in
or homelessness, recurring absences, and Metropolitan School District and East Cleveland employment law. Stephanie has been a CMBA
diminished academic performance. TLC at the School District to compete separately outside the member since 1985. She can be reached at
CMSD was created with the goal of bolstering Ohio Mock Trial Competition. Winners of the strudeau@ulmer.com.
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