Lessons in Leadership: Lincoln-West Students Help Shape “My Cleveland Agenda”
- Ronaldo Rodriguez Jr.
- Oct 21
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 28
Every four years, Cleveland reshuffles its political deck. This November, Clevelanders will have new ward boundaries, multiple incumbent-versus-incumbent races, and another chance to choose who leads the city. In one West Side classroom, a different kind of civic conversation is unfolding—one that begins not with campaign slogans but with a simple, reflective question: “If you were mayor, what would you do?”
At Lincoln-West School of Global Studies, our next generation of leaders is already contemplating what kind of city they want to inherit, with compassion and relentless curiosity. Many of these students are still too young to cast a ballot, and some are otherwise ineligible to vote. Yet their ideas and frustrations reveal as much about Cleveland’s future as any campaign platform.
Their reflections became part of My Cleveland Agenda, a civic-journalism partnership and citywide listening project that invited residents to share their priorities ahead of the 2025 municipal elections. Clevelanders currently wield the power to reimagine who represents their neighborhoods at City Hall, a power tempered by six uncontested races, including five incumbents and one Ward 11 seat where a contender withdrew.
When asked what their first act would be if they were mayor of Cleveland, the students answered with honesty and imagination. Many began with basic needs and visible challenges in their neighborhoods, naming homelessness, environmental degradation, and crumbling streets among their first priorities.
Others focused on deeper issues that touch daily life, such as food insecurity, public transportation, and educational opportunities. Each response revealed a sense of responsibility and awareness rooted not in politics but in lived experience.
One student pleaded for safety on the way to and from school. “It’s not fair for kids to get on public transportation with people who can harm them,” she wrote. For her and her peers, the city bus serves as the school bus. The safety, timeliness, and conditions of that ride are matters of equity and access that shape the reality of growing up in Cleveland.
Safety appeared often in the students’ reflections, taking many forms. About one in five mentioned it directly, making it one of the most common themes across the class. Several students spoke about guns and gun violence, with one writing that he would “ban guns from the wrong people to reduce gun violence.”
Others equated safety with social stability, connecting it to having enough food, quality housing, and care for families in need. For them, safety was not only freedom from harm but also a sense of belonging and the feeling that people could walk, learn, and live without fear.
For some students, the limits on belonging extend to their ability to participate fully in civic life. “I would like to vote, but I don’t meet the requirements because I have a green card,” said one Global Studies senior.
Their answers carried both understanding and frustration, revealing how it feels to care deeply about a city that does not yet recognize them as part of its electorate. At a time of heightened immigration enforcement, his reflection raises a difficult question about whose voices remain outside the ballot box and unheard when decisions are made about our city’s future.
His involuntary disenfranchisement and the city’s voluntary disengagement form a powerful paradox: one group can’t participate, while most who can simply don’t. Cleveland’s last election saw only seven percent of voters participate, leaving ninety-three percent unheard by choice rather than circumstance.
When asked what they want elected leaders to know about their communities, another student offered a reminder of what belonging already looks like: “I want them to know that the direction of my community is beautiful—how people from all over the world come together.” His words described a neighborhood rich in connection and care, where over a quarter of residents were born outside of the United States.
A third student wrote, “I want them to know that there are people willing to do what it takes to make this community better.” Together, the students imagined a Cleveland defined less by its divisions and more by the people willing to repair them. The qualities Cleveland most needs in its leadership are visible at Lincoln-West.
The classroom conversation faded as the students packed their books and returned to the noise of the hallway, leaving behind a quiet hope. Their answers were a reminder that listening is where leadership begins.
A city that listens to its youth invests in its own future.
Editor’s note: Students are identified by general description rather than by name to protect their privacy. My Cleveland Agenda is a collaboration between the Journalism + Design Lab of The New School, Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C), and the Neighborhood Media Foundation, with support from Signal Cleveland.
