Chomps’ appearance came thanks to Pinnacle’s partnership with Stay in the Game!, an initiative by the Cleveland Browns to promote attendance at school. Katie Palinski, the school’s attendance liaison, said she has seen chronic absenteeism rates lower since Pinnacle got involved at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.
“We actually improved our attendance dramatically,” Palinski said. “We won an Eagle award for our attendance and were honored with the Taking Flight distinction. The awareness the program brings is really great and there are a ton of opportunities for the kids. I can’t say enough how thankful we are to be a part of it.”
One of these opportunities was to check out the Browns’ Organized Team Activities in May. Scholars got to see their favorite team up close and even got to meet rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Stay in the Game! also provides exciting opportunities to have Chomps at school, which Pinnacle students get to experience twice per year. Palinski said she requested an appearance to coincide with the start of the Strive for Five attendance challenge.
“We requested him for that day and he was free, so the timing was perfect,” Palinski said. “I think Strive for Five is great because this adds another incentive for kids to come to school. And with the giveaways and things like that, you can’t beat it. It’s just great.”
Chomps went from classroom to classroom, interacting with scholars and promoting the first Strive for Five challenge of the year. Students loved seeing him in their classroom and taking photos together.
Thanks to opportunities like this, Pinnacle is encouraging students to attend school and promoting a positive, engaging learning environment.
Keep up the great work, Pinnacle!
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About Pinnacle Academy
Pinnacle Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Euclid, Ohio, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through high school across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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