A comic page shows a worried-looking boy with his hands on top his head, staring at a not-so-scary crocodile with a bird in its wide-open mouth.

“Yikes! What is that bird doing? Isn’t it dangerous?” asks the boy.

Since this scene is in Comic Land, the bird (in this case an Egyptian plover), answers through its dialogue bubble, “I am helping the crocodile by eating the leftover food on his teeth.” 

The cartoon also announces that this is an example of symbiosis, an interaction beneficial to both organisms.

The comic-like symbiosis lesson plan is just one of many in The Cool School Comics, created by former Lakewood City Schools science teacher, artist, and entrepreneur Laura Balliett for classroom use. The educator says she believes many reluctant readers respond more positively to comics. 

Balliett’s creation won her the Grand Prize in the 10th annual Accelerate: Citizens Make Change competition on Thursday, Feb. 22 at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland.

Twenty-six presenters pitched ideas they hope will “transform lives in Cleveland,” as stated by a proclamation presented by Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, honorary chair of the event.

Balliett’s The Cool School Comics was the chosen winner among the five finalists by the nearly 750-member audience.  Her winning presentation earned her $5,000, while the remaining four finalists each received $2,000.

The $3,500 winner of the Technovation award, for the most innovative technology-based idea, was Sara Kidner and her Micro Scholarship Mentor Match initiative to help first generation college students stay in school.

The Teen Accelerate winners were Lilly Moran and Gabby Ransom of Hathaway Brown School for a plan to provide gardening kits to children in foster care or long-term hospitalization facilities.

Cleveland Leadership Center (CLC) initiated Accelerate in 2015 as its primary annual support event and to promote social innovation. The 273 initiatives that have been pitched at Accelerate over the past decade have involved more than 5,000 people and have touched tens of thousands of lives of Clevelanders, according to CLC president and CEO Marianne Crosley.     

This year’s initiatives in five categories (arts and culture; education; health and well-being; social change; and thriving neighborhoods) offered a variety of “why-didn’t-someone-think-of-that-sooner” ideas.

Pitches included: starting a cooperatively owned neighborhood laundromat; chess lessons and tournaments that ultimately teach more than the game (think self-confidence, handling challenges and strategy making); and a digital service that discounts family-friendly activities and attractions for use by individual families or as a fund-raising tool for schools and non-profits.

Here’s a look at some of the winners:

The Cool School Comics

The Cool School Comics founder and creator Balliett entered the first Accelerate competition in 2015, but admits her artwork and presentation was far less sophisticated than it is now.

But Balliett realized that the concept and comics she shared were praised by other educators who were trying to reach some “bored and uninterested students.”

Refining her project over a 10-year period paid off.

“I was a science teacher, but I was always a doodler,” she explains. “When I was a kid, I wanted to be a cartoonist. I loved teaching, however, and followed that passion. Now I can do both.

Balliett says people often ask if she perpetuating the problem of kids not wanting to read by using comics.

“I look at comics as a gateway to reading,” she answers. “When a kid knows he can read the entire comic, that builds confidence.”

The Cool School Comics includes lesson plans and follow-up activities on a wide variety of subjects for elementary and middle school students. Currently Balliett is working on a series about eclipses, another on types of energy, to be followed by a series on math lessons.

With her Accelerte award money, Balliett says she plans to improve her website and create a subscription service for school districts.

“I know what it is like for a teacher to try to find resources,” Balliett says. “Right now, they are buying The Cool School Comics a la carte and paying for it out of their own money. With a subscription service, a district can say to teachers, ‘use what you need at any time throughout the year.’ That would be awesome.”   

Culture.CLE

In every culture, food brings families, friends, and strangers together. Break bread with someone, share a bottle of wine, or pass around pieces of celebratory cake, and animosities are put on hold, bonds are strengthened.

It can be the same when diverse groups of people get together to enjoy a meal. But it’s often more difficult for that to happen because of lack of opportunity or hesitation for the unknown.

Culture.CLE is an Accelerate finalist that attempts to make more of those culinary opportunities. Accelerate presenters Nicolas Moses Ngong and Luciana Salles are co-leaders of the Global Shapers Community— Cleveland Hub, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. The group’s goal is to “create local change through a global lens.”

Culture.CLE is a dinner series hosted by Global Shapers Cleveland in partnerships with local immigrant-owned/operated restaurants. Ticket holders enjoy a private meal, cooking demonstrations, and interaction with a chef/owner to learn about the origins and history of the food as well as the personal stories.

“Luciana and I are both children of Cleveland immigrants,” says Ngong, a Cameroonian whose Culture.CLE partner, Salles, is Brazilian. “We know how important it is for immigrants to feel comfortable in a new space and how valuable that feeling is.”

Ngong says Culture.CLE serves as an opportunity to invite people to an intimate communal meal with someone with a background they might not have encountered before.

“For those hosting, they get an opportunity to light up their culture on a big platform to a new audience,” says Ngong, a self -proclaimed foodie who lately has been enjoying making Chinese and stir-fry dishes.

A Culure.CLE event hasn’t been held since last year, and limited marketing has been an issue for the dinner events.

With Accelerate’s help, Ngong, a full-time student, says he plans to increase the awareness of the initiative and help publicize immigrant-owned restaurants.

A Culture.CLE event is already planned for Tuesday, March 26 at El Salvadorean restaurant Guanaquitas 2. Tickets will soon be available.

SEW City Quilts

Lee-Harvard neighborhood resident Paula Coggins has been sewing since she was in middle school. Her first paying job was working for a local cleaner that maintained the uniforms of the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians).

Coggins was the cleaner’s darner, mending uniforms that “the athletics tore up during every game.” She became a CPA by profession, but never lost her respect and love for sewing, which she calls a lost art.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Coggins started a group that evolved from an online craft activity to SEW City Quilts, where new and experienced sewers alike engage in many different sewing activities. The program is free and available to anyone.   

SEW City Quilts is a public art initiative that aims to create quilts that will hang in public buildings in the community. So far, 13 local businesses have expressed interest in receiving a quilt made by SEW City Quilts.

“We are also sustainable. Most of our fabric is given to us by people who no longer want or use it,” explains Coggins. “We also get a lot of donated clothing and keep fast fashion out of landfills.”

She says her Accelerate award will be used to buy batting, backing, and thread, as well as signage with the quilts’ titles and the names of those who made it. She says the money will also go to hanging and maintaining the quilts.

Finalists of note

Other Accelerate finalists include Jonathan Jamison and Heavenly Aguilar for their “Reel People, Real Legacies” idea to capture untold stories in communities that would otherwise be lost; and Ariana Smith’s “M.H.M. Youth Summit,” a program designed to empower students by addressing their mental health concerns.