PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN
Saturday, August 9, 2025; All City Back to School Festival, Cleveland Public Auditorium, 500 Lakeside Ave. East: Cleveland Metropolitan School District Director of Financial Support and Services Melody Patterson hands out school supplies to parents and children.
PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN
Saturday, August 9, 2025; Esperanza’s Back-To-School Celebration, Max Hayes High School, W. 65th and Clark Avenue: Esperanza staff and volunteers pass out backpacks filled with school supplies.
PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN
Saturday, August 9, 2025; All City Back to School Festival, Cleveland Public Auditorium, 500 Lakeside Ave. East: City of Cleveland Director of Human Resources Matt Cole and City of Cleveland Community Relations Department Executive Director Angela Shute-Woodson hand out fresh fruit available through a partnership with the Cleveland Food Bank.
PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN
Saturday, August 9, 2025; Esperanza’s Back-To-School Celebration, Max Hayes High School, W. 65th and Clark Avenue: Esperanza President and Chief Executive Officer Margaret Sánchez and AT&T Director of External and Legislative Affairs Tony Costanzo have a backpack filled with school supplies for Adriana Lazaro, age 10. Lazaro plans to attend the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Halle School this year.
PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN
Saturday, August 9, 2025; Esperanza’s Back-To-School Celebration, Max Hayes High School, W. 65th and Clark Avenue: The Gary family sport balloon animals and backpacks full of school supplies as they leave the Esperanza Back-To-School Celebration.
PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN
Saturday, August 9, 2025; All City Back to School Festival, Cleveland Public Auditorium, 500 Lakeside Ave. East: Cleveland Teachers Union members pass out age-appropriate books to parents and children. (L-R) Kathryn Keane, Sheila Guzik, Sara Baldassar, Donna Glenn, Kim Jones and Tracey Barbieri.
(Plain Press September 2025) The All City Back-To-School Festival and the Esperanza Back-To-School Celebration both were held on Saturday August 9th. The two major celebrations were set up to help students and their families get ready to go back to school. The Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s school year started on August 18th for all its schools.
All City Back-to-School Festival
Students and their families streamed into Cleveland Public Auditorium at 500 Lakeside to take part in the All City Back to School Festival. Free parking was available across the street at Cleveland City Hall.
A Cleveland Public Library mobile vehicle was parked in front of Public Auditorium parked on Lakeside Avenue. Cleveland Public Library’s Outreach and Programing staff members Lamar Edmondson and Maggie Lawrence gave away free books to children and families as they came in and out of Public Auditorium.
On the steps of Public Auditorium, City of Cleveland staff members in partnership with the Cleveland Food Bank distributed fresh food. City of Cleveland Community Relations Department Executive Director Angela Shute-Woodson and City of Cleveland Director of Human Resources Matt Cole were among the city staffers involve in food distribution. They passed out peaches to those attending the festival.
Inside of Public Auditorium, City of Cleveland Chief of Education Michele Pomerantz urged families to pick up a copy of the Cleveland Back to School Festival’s 2025-2026 Resource Guide. The Guide provides parents and students with descriptions of services and activities available to Clevelanders in the upcoming year.
Pomerantz posed for a picture with three smiling students holding balloons and resource packets. The students getting prepared for the upcoming school year were Jaleel Weaver, age 5, preparing to go to kindergarten; Joseph Dozier III, age 7, preparing to attend the 2nd Grade; and Kyrie Kyle, age 9, who will be in the third grade this year.
Pomerantz said the Back-to-School Festival had 3,000 school supply kits on hand to pass out to students. She said that some local barbers were in attendance to offer free haircuts to students and that members of the Cleveland Teachers Union were passing out free books.
Cleveland Metropolitan School District Director of Financial Support and Services Melody Patterson was one of the volunteers passing out school supplies. She stood in front of a table filled with boxes from Educational Products Incorporated urging parents to add a box to the educational supplies they were picking up.
The Cleveland Teachers Union table featured books in English and Spanish with signs designating the recommended age-appropriate reading levels of the books. Cleveland Teachers Union members at the table ready to help parents select books for their children were: Kathryn Keane, Sheila Guzik, Sara Baldassar, Donna Glenn, Kim Jones, and Tracey Barbieri.
Esperanza Back-to-School Celebration
Music played as families and students entered the Esperanza Back-To-School celebration in the gym at Mas Hayes High School at W. 65th and Clark Avenue.
Volunteers passed out backpacks full of school supplies.
Organizations had tables with literature or games to entertain those attending the event. Allison Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians organization gave out gifts from the Guardians at a table where prizes were determined by spinning a roulette wheel.
Esperanza President and Chief Executive Officer Margaret Sánchez helped to pass out backpacks, as did AT&T Director of External and Legislative Affairs Tony Costanzo, a representative of the presenting sponsor AT&T.
With the help of its sponsors, Esperanza secured enough backpacks and school supplies for 1,500 students. Literacy, tutoring, health care and human services organizations offered information to parents about how to access their services. Presenting sponsor AT&T also contributed 50 laptops to families in need.
“Today’s celebration was about uniting the community and empowering our students to begin the school year with renewed hope and opportunity,” said Sánchez. “For many of our students, who face daily economic challenges, having the right supplies is the first step toward academic success. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, we equipped hundreds of young minds with the tools they need to pursue their dreams.”
“AT&T is excited to collaborate with Esperanza to help Cleveland students prepare to go back to school with backpacks and laptops to help connect them to a world of opportunity,” said Costanzo. “We are proud that AT&T employee volunteers stuffed the back-to-school backpacks for students, and we’re confident that the students who received the laptops will use them to connect to greater possibilities.”
In addition to AT&T, the event was supported through donations by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Dollar Bank, The Welsh Academy, KeyBank, CareSource, Fuego 1300 AM, McDonalds, Cleveland Clinic, and MetroWest Community Development Organization.
Editor’s Note: Esperanza provides comprehensive support services for learners of all ages. The organization serves over 6,000 students and families annually in the areas of leadership development, tutoring, mentoring, post-secondary support, English as a second language, and General Educational Development (GED) preparation. In addition, Esperanza awards more than $100,000 in college scholarships to over 100 students each year.
Plain Press 
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