Jason Cleaver has been teaching at Euclid High School since 2005. Although he was born, raised and educated in Ohio, his first teaching experience took place on the Cheyenne River Reservation in Red Scaffold, South Dakota. An AmeriCorps tutor and substitute teacher, Jason had the privilege of being adopted by a Sioux family. This experience showed him the impact of history, particularly negative history, on people. It propelled him to continue researching and writing about race in America, focusing on the post Civil War years and specifically the 1968 Glenville riot.
While teaching at Euclid, Jason was able to take courses offered by Facing History and Ourselves which provided an opportunity to continue to expand his Afican American history class offerings. In 2016 Jason discovered the Teaching Cleveland Student Challenge (TCSC) Bridging the Divide: Race in Greater Cleveland which gave him the opportunity to expose his students to other students in Northeast Ohio and begin forging bonds between them. Jason’s goal was to “squash” stereotypes and show commonalities between students.
Jason believes that giving students ownership and confidence is what teaching is all about and he credits the TCSC with helping him make that happen. Euclid is a divided, diverse and complicated community and often students feel that their opinions do not matter and their voices go unheard. Participation in TCSC changed that for so many students. They were treated professionally, with respect and listened to. Encouraged to be leaders, get involved, make a difference and move forward with their lives, many TCSC graduates went on to help bring positive changes to their community. One started a PAC to advocate for cultural reform in the Euclid school system while others worked on national and local elections.
One of Teaching Cleveland’s goals is to offer educators resources and experiences which can be used in the classroom. Jason has completely embraced TC’s hands-on approach. He has taken full advantage of exposure to primary source documents, Learning Lab speakers and professional networking. He has participated in three student challenges, many learning labs, and has even been a guest lecturer for some of Teaching Cleveland’s programs. “I love the Learning Labs. Often teacher development is dry and useless. TC gives me so many ideas and allows me to network with other professionals; their hands-on approach to teaching history is like a lab for science classes.”
Jason Cleaver believes Teaching Cleveland is a winning organization for both teachers and students. The ideas, networks and resources offered to teachers combined with the opportunity for student leadership and involvement reflected in real-world success is remarkable. And most importantly, the result is a sense of pride and connectedness to Cleveland.
“Teaching Cleveland provides hope and meaning to the place we call home, Cleveland.”
