Browns 'Shout Out' to the kids

A special CD is being used in a variety of ways in local schools.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AFT ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL MICHAEL Schubert looked over an office counter at Rashawn Watkins.
"What do you think about the Browns giving announcements?" he asked.
"They come here?" the fourth-grader asked.
"Did you hear them on the announcements this morning?"
On this Thursday morning, the announcement came from running back Jamel White.
"Mr. White is here and he would like to talk to you about respect," Schubert told the children during his usual morning announcements.
White's voice then addressed children over the PA system:
"Hi. This is Jamel White, running back of the Cleveland Browns, telling you the best way to win is to listen to your parents and respect your teachers and others around you, and get your education."
"That was great, wasn't it?" Schubert asked the children after White's comments.
Messages on CD
Schubert admits that, no, the Browns are not stopping by his school every morning to deliver announcements. Instead, he uses a compact disk from the Browns that plays 79 messages recorded by various players.
The "Shout Out from the Browns" CD features players talking about character, reading, testing, teamwork and other issues. The CDs were set by the Browns to schools across the state.
Renee Zidan, the Browns' director of community relations, said the topics were suggested by the Ohio Department of Education.
"As you can imagine, with the players schedules and the amount of schools in our area, it's extremely difficult for us to make it out to the schools on any consistent basis," Zidan said. With the CD, she added, players can let the pupils know they support them and are thinking about them.
At Kirkmere Elementary, faculty use the CD to supplement a "character education" program. Principal Sarah Bonaquist said the CD arrived as they were planning the new program in August and they thought it would fit in well.
"We have a lot of Browns fans in this building," she said. " ... The boys and girls like to hear the Cleveland Browns. ... We think it's having a positive effect."
Topics for discussion
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Bonaquist said, children are given a different character trait to discuss. Children who deliver morning announcements give stories and examples of the trait and use the Browns CD as support. The trait is then discussed with pupils in lunch hours.
At Austintown Middle School, the CD is incorporated into a pupil radio show aired throughout the school every Friday. Pupils start with one message and usually end with another, said teacher Marcia Jeswald.
"Kids are excited to hear the players they know," she said. "At first they thought the players were in school.
"... I think it's great for role models, people kids look up to, to be delivering these messages."
Schubert said he plays the messages during morning announcements anywhere from two or three times each week to five. Especially helpful, he said, were tracks on proficiency tests that he used when pupils were taking the exam.