Each week during the school year, high school students from schools across Northeast Ohio are invited to participate in City Club Friday Forums. Students are invited to meet with the speaker for a private question-and-answer session following the Forum. Often the questions posed by students in this private session are just as relevant and pointed as those posed by the adults in the Forum. Over 27,000 students have participated in the Student Program since its inception more than 30 years ago.

The City Club has an ongoing commitment to sharing its work with our region's youngest citizens. Since its inception more than 30 years ago, the Student Program at The City Club has grown into an annual mainstay and has become a very important component in our educational outreach initiatives. The Student Program provides students with hands-on exposure to lessons about citizenship, civics, and history. Students participants not only learn about current affairs, they learn how to analyze complex issues facing society and how to express a mature point of view.

The program format includes a tour of The City Club facility and overview of the history of our organization. Students are led into the auditorium for lunch, which is complimentary along with parking. The Forums begin at 12:30 pm and conclude at 1:30 pm. All schools are recognized during the mid-Forum announcements. Following the conclusion of the Forum, schools are invited to meet privately with the speaker.

During the 2007-08 academic year, more than 800 students from over 90 local schools participated in the Student Program. Students met privately with speakers such as Vicki B. Escarra, President & CEO,America's Second Harvest Food Bank, Beverly Daniel Tatum, President, Spelman College, Ralph Alvarez, President & COO, McDonald's Corporation, Susan Goldberg, Editor, The Plain Dealer, Ron Gettlefinger, President, UAW, The Honorable Zhou Wenzhong, Chinese Ambassador to The United States, and many more.

The City Club is proud to provide civic education to our region's future leaders.

The following donors make the Student Program possible: The Cleveland Clinic The Jeffrey David Epstein Memorial Student Fund The Laub Foundation Pipeline Development Company The Fred E. Scholl Charitable Foundation, Bernard L. Karr, Chairman

For more information or to become a participating school, please contact Carrie Miller, 216.621.0082 or cmiller@cityclub.org.

High School Debate Championship

For over two decades, The City Club has hosted the annual High School Debate Championships. While most high school students are watching basketball finals and preparing for spring break, these enterprising students prepare for the High School Debate Championships, as well as for state and national competitions. The City Club gives them the opportunity to show off their skills. Every year, the top two area high school debaters square off in a classic "Lincoln-Douglas" style debate at a Friday Forum. This gives the debaters the opportunity to compete not only for the judges and the audience in the room, but also for our radio and television audiences. Debate teams from across Northeast Ohio are invited to attend as guests of The City Club and Baker Hostetler, LLP.

The High School Debate Championship is sponsored by Baker Hostetler, LLP in memory of Patrick Jordon. Mr. Jordon was a partner of the firm and an outstanding debater in high school.

Youth Forum Series

The City Club Youth Forum Council plans and executes Forums created by high school students for high school students. The Council of students from a number of area high schools determines the topics, invites the speakers, handles logistics and runs the programs. Our Youth Forum provides a unique opportunity for participants to develop effective communication skills by holding group discussions on current events and public affairs at Forums, develop analytical thinking abilities by debating the topic and points of view reflected by the Forum speaker, and encouraging positive community involvement by providing a direct experience with democracy, the fiber of American society. Five Youth Forums are held each year that relate to various topics decided upon by the Youth Forum Council.

Over the years, the Youth Forum Series has covered a number of important topics ranging from affirmative action to international relations. The Forums are always timely and invigorating. Speakers have included Mayor Jane Campbell, Greenpeace Executive Director John Passacantando and former Special Envoy to Afghanistan Peter Tomsen.

The City Club Youth Forum Council members meet monthly at The City Club. Students are encouraged to read the daily newspaper, listen to news analysts on TV and radio, and participate in the decision making process to select topics and well known speakers in the field of their choice. Once confirmed, the student secures the speaker's biography and photograph and begins to prepare introductory remarks to be delivered from the podium on the day of the Forum.

Students interested in local and national issues, have diverse points of view, enjoy team projects, and want leadership opportunities are encouraged to join the Youth Forum Council.

For more information on upcoming Youth Forums, or to request a Youth Forum Council application, please contact Carrie Miller, 216.621.0082 or cmiller@cityclub.org.

The 2010-2011 Youth Forum Council
Breana Gilliam, Washington Park
Bryan Ciccarello, Midpark
Cody Yanniello, St. Edward
Dacia Williams, John Hay
Derrick Youngblood, Ginn Academy
Erin Mann, Hathaway Brown
Ezequiel Figueroa, SuccessTech
Jazmin Baldwin, John Hay
Kaila Lopez, Laurel School
Lesley Wellener, Hathaway Brown
Luana Turovskaya, Beachwood
Mohammad Saab, SuccessTech
Tevin Mitchell, Ginn Academy
Tomas Navia, University School
TyAsia Whitsitt, Whitney M. Young
Tye'Sean Berry, Ginn Academy
Zoya Alam, Brunswich

Kenneth Hale, Youth Forum & Student Program Advisor
Catalina Quinonez, City Club Staff

The City Club is grateful to these donors for the generous support of this important initiative:
Bellefaire JCB
St. Luke's Foundation
The Bruening Foundation
The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation
The Monte Ahuja Foundation
The Stocker Foundation
The Thomas White Foundation
The John P. Murphy Foundation