City Club Forum Foundation

Programs: City club programs - the city club produces forums on a range of topics for a variety of audiences. The backbone of programming is the friday forum, a luncheon program devoted to significant national and regional concerns. We also have forums on other days, at different times and venues, including neighborhood bars and public square in downtown cleveland. Some of our most successful programs are developed by member-led teams and students. Every election season, you can count on the city club to convene candidate and issue debates. The city club is committed to being the place where our community can gather to explore and understand shifts in immigration policy, proposals to remake our healthcare system, the meaning of the broader rise of populism around the globe, trade policy, education policy, energy policy, environmental protection, housing, the economy, and on and on. City club forums typically begin with an introduction of the topic followed by an address of approximately 25-30 minutes from the speaker and then a 30-minute question and answer period. The city club question and answer period is truly unique in that every question from the audience is live, unrehearsed and unscripted. City club speakers often face challenging questions from our audience members and guests, which creates dynamic dialogue and provides the momentum that keeps the conversation going long after the program has adjourned. Last year, we presented 133 forums attended by more than 22,000 audience members, and accessed by hundreds of thousands more through broadcast and online. These vibrant, dynamic, and diverse forums focus on an array of topics, spanning education, politics, business, science, and more. The city club's hallmark "friday forums" programs are broadcast locally on wcpn 90. 3 fm, wclv 104. 9 fm, and wviz/pbs ideastream . Beyond northeast ohio, audiences listen via radio; watch on select television outlets; and stream the program via podcasts and youtube. Student programs - the city club of cleveland has four programs specifically aimed at engaging young audiences--the student program, the youth forum series, the annual free speech essay contest, and the annual debate championship. Each one provides an opportunity for high school students to examine the value and impediments of free speech; discuss and learn about national and international issues of critical importance; and be challenged to discover ways in which they can actively participate in public life. We believe that inviting students and their teachers to attend and participate in city club events plays an important role in increasing the civic awareness of our youth. By exposing students to an environment where community stakeholders and citizens gather to hear speakers address important issues that affect the present and the future, we prepare these young adults to be leaders in our communities. The objectives of the city club of cleveland's student programs are: - to stimulate critical thinking about american public policy, international relations, the environment, and other current issues of importance - to view themselves as part of a larger tradition and belonging to the professional world - to provide a setting where students can learn the importance of civic dialogue and community engagement as critical aspects of citizen responsibility - to enable students to engage in direct dialogue with well-known leaders - to provide students the opportunity to exchange points of view, negotiate differences and interact with people from diverse geographical, religious, social, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds - to provide educators and their students an educational experience that enhances and expands the high school civics curriculum beyond the typical classroom - to expose students to a living piece of cleveland's cultural history - to strengthen democracy by learning the importancecity club student program - for more than 30 years, we have offered a unique opportunity for tens of thousands of high school students to participate in the city club's weekly forums, helping to fulfill our mission to create conversations of consequence that help democracy thrive. As today's students rely more and more on electronic communication and learning, the city club student program is able to provide a meaningful service to northeast ohio area students by engaging them in face-to-face learning that expands their understanding of the importance of free speech and free exchange of thought. City club forums encourage a lively exchange of ideas and provide a stimulating environment where contemporary issues of national and global importance are presented and debated. Often the questions posed by students are among the most pointed and resonant questions. Youth forum series - since its inception in 1997, more than 14,000 students have attended youth forums at the city club. The city club youth forums replicate the regular friday forums, except that students organize them for a student audience. Students take charge of everything in the forum, from topic selection to panel moderation and delivering introductions. All student visitors receive a tour of the facility and learn about the history and mission of the city club. They witness first-hand the importance of free speech as the cornerstone of a democratic society and how the traditional program format provides an opportunity to hear diverse points of view on many important issues. Youth forum activities are executed by a planning council of high school students who meet monthly. Members of the youth forum council come from a number of area high schools (both public and private), and they meet regularly to determine the topics and invite the speakers for as many as five forums each year. 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 engaged dialogue-the very fiber of american democracy. Essay contest - the annual hope and stanley adelstein free speech essay contest challenges high school students to examine the role of free speech in the 21st century. All high school students in northeast ohio are eligible to apply for scholarship prizes. Essays pull from personal experience, current events, history, politics, art, anything really so long as they are backed up with evidence. We invite city club members and community partners to serve as guest judges scoring the essays on their clarity, content, originality, and significance. The top three winners are invited to read their essays at the city club and the top 20 finalists and their guests are invited to a special city club essay competition forum and receive a one-year membership to the city club. All winning essays are posted on the city club website. High school debate - for more than two decades, the city club of cleveland has hosted the annual high school debate while most high school students are watching basketball finals and preparing for spring break, these enterprising students prepare for the high school debate championship, 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 this special free event to participate in this annual spring tradition. Because of the popularity of debate in area high schools, the annual debate championship is consistently among our most watched youtube videos.