Ana Ratkosky Is one of about 50 area high school juniors selected this year to participate in the Cleveland Leadership Center’s year-long “Look Up To Cleveland” leadership development program for high school students. Designed to give students a heightened awareness and appreciation for the city, the program aims to show young people how they can affect positive change in their community in the future.
Participants learn first-hand about some of the projects stimulating progress in the Cleveland area, with a focus on government, environment, economy, the arts, and culture. They have met some of the people driving that change. Organizing into small groups of about 15 students, the groups are working to develop a civic vision to improve an aspect of the community.
One of the places Ana visited was the Meijers Market in the Fairfax neighborhood on Cleveland’s East Side. The neighborhood is roughly bounded between Euclid Avenue to the north, Woodland Avenue to the south, E. 71st Street to the west and E. 105th Street to the east. The grocery store is part of a broader revitalization project designed to buoy economic activity, add jobs, and bring nutritious, affordable food to the neighborhood.
“Meijers operates as a grocery store that sells local products and offers a community classroom, where they hold cooking classes, technology classes, and more,” explained Ana about the role of the store in the community.
Bolstered by the Meijers experience, Ratkosky's group, which is composed of students from North Royalton, Solon, and St. Joseph high schools among others, is working to better the Fairfax community by creating a vision to remodel and update the Fairfax Recreation Center. The goal is to create a fun and inviting space to bring together community members.
“I enjoy being part of ‘Look Up To Cleveland’”, said Ana. “I have met many new people and learned a lot of new things about Cleveland that I would not otherwise have known.”
