- This month on The Spark, our theme is "Advancing Education and Collaboration."

We'll learn more about a Homework Hotline providing free one-on-one tutoring to K12 students across Tennessee, an organization providing a coding education and employment preparation programs to those in the prison system and a digital platform changing the way individuals and organizations connect, communicate and collaborate.

We'll also share a special moment from our Spark Awards 2020.

[upbeat music]   - Lipscomb and Pitts   Insurance is honored to serve   the Memphis community   for over 60 years,   we've always focused on   supporting our community   and believe in   promoting the positives,   encouraging engagement   and leading by example.

Lipscomb and Pitts Insurance is proud to be a presenting sponsor of The Spark.

- (male announcer)   Additional funding for   The Spark is provided by   Meritan, United Way   of the Mid-South,   My Town Movers, My Town   Roofing, My Town Miracles   and by SRVS.

[upbeat music]   - Ever been excited   by a new idea,   inspired by watching   someone lead by example,   when we talk about   creating change,   we start by sharing the   stories of everyday heroes   who are making a   difference in their own way   so we can learn   and do the same.

I'm Jeremy Park and   this is The Spark.

They offer free tutoring for K12 students across Tennessee.

We're here with the Executive Director of Homework Hotline, Madeline Adams.

And let's start Madeline, give us a little bit of a history lesson for starting Homework Hotline.

- Thanks, Jeremy.

We're really excited to be here and to talk about Homework Hotline.

So Hotline is here in our 30th year.

We have partnered, started in Metro Nashville Public Schools and have really spread across the state.

So we cover the entire state of Tennessee partnering with forty-nine different districts and community organizations.

And we're excited, especially with our new partnership a year and a half ago with Shelby County Schools in Memphis and this year as well we signed on a new partnership with Agape Child and Family Services, Journey Community Schools.

So we're excited to be in the Memphis community on the ground with teachers, from Shelby as well as our office here in Nashville where I am and really serving students across the state with our free tutoring.

We started all   over the telephone   and that's what has   been really wonderful   a great boon in this shift   where everybody's going virtual   We've always been   over the telephone.

We've never had   in-person tutoring.

And so I'm bringing   the technology gaps.

We have, students can take a   picture of their assignments   and text it to us now,   think about 10 years   ago, that didn't happen.

And we also have   online whiteboards.

So students can jump onto an online whiteboard with their assigned tutor and with the tutor they work with that night to work one-on-one real time and students working on essays, they can share a Google Document and we've been able to use technology to our advantage, especially this year, while most students are working remotely as it is.

- Talk about the different subjects, because already as you're alluding to, you can think working on whiteboards, math, the essays, so it's language arts but talk about the different subjects and the expertise.

- Absolutely, so exactly that math is our most popular subject.

We have about 72% of our students call in needing math help.

The remainder of them will call in for science, English, history, social studies.

We're seeing an uptick in upper level students as well.

So about 25 to 30% of our students this year are upper level high school students which is an increase from last year.

But we do serve students kindergarten through 12th grade and Hotline from the very beginning has hired only certified teachers.

So we are really proud to   have certified teachers   or retired who are   still very with it   and very competent to be able   to handle especially subjects   like physics and AP chem or   even third grade reading.

So we have teachers across all   subjects at all grade levels   certified working in Metro   Nashville Public Schools,   or Shelby County Schools   or recently retired from   either of those districts.

So we're excited that we really can serve any student with almost any subjects and we have as well to help cover a lot of the different types of students that Hotline serves really is primarily... we serve all students in Tennessee.

However, we do know that students find the most value with us because they may not speak English as a first language.

So we have teachers that can speak Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, Mandarin, and Swahili.

We really focus on students who can't afford private tutoring.

So we are here as a free service for all students that students cannot afford private tutoring so we're here for students for that.

And as well, they might have, we have an online chat.

We wanna be as accessible as possible.

So we have an online chat that's available.

Students live in rural areas that may not have good cellular reception on their phone or we've had students on our chat say I'm hard of hearing and chat is a lot easier 'cause I don't have to rely on confusions over the telephone.

So we really wanna be as accessible to all students in Tennessee as possible.

- Give us an illustration of what success looks like on your end.

- Yeah, so success looks to Homework Hotline at the base level, during a session with a tutor, a student says thank you so much that helped.

And this day and age we learned to be independent and we learn to, it's hard to ask for help.

And I find a lot of value from our students who for the first time say I need help.

And so just to hear that to me is extremely successful for our students at the very beginning, but really at the end of each session, when they say that was invaluable, you're a God send.

And we had the opportunity to sign our students up with weekly tutoring.

So we'll work with them week to week on the same subject with one tutor and we've had parents and guardians call in or email and say, even after two, three, four sessions my student has more confidence in that grades in that subject.

Their grades have improved just a little bit.

We had one student last year who was one of our weekly tutoring students whose mom said, "Oh my goodness, he's failed every single math test.

"This is his first test.

"It was one point over passing "but it's the first time he did not "ever have to retake the test and he's keeping that grade but we have seen that improvement."

So we're excited.

We know that we're hearing from those stories that we find success through that as well.

I mean, baseline, just someone that says, thank you.

That's what we find value with at the end of the day.

- It's all the little thank yous' absolutely but even to your point the small movement then creates the big movement, which tracking over time that's how real change occurs.

Talk about how we can help because obviously there's a cost on your end, a financial cost.

And when you talk about providing this as a free service, well, it's free to the students and the families, but there is a cost.

And so financial contributions to support your efforts are huge.

How can we help?

- Absolutely, so Homework Hotline will always be free for Tennessee students.

We are really fortunate to have a really great support network in school districts.

And that's really where we find a lot of value as well.

Shelby County Schools, Journey Community Schools Agape Child and Family Services, Metro Nashville Public Schools, Hardeman County Schools are all really wonderful financial supporters of Homework Hotline.

What we do, I actually have in front of me we send out our promotional binder inserts to all of our partner school districts.

These are not free for us to produce.

And we also have really great supporters in organizations like Scarlet Family Foundation, Memorial Foundation, Maddix Family Foundation Sonic Drive-ins is a great supporter.

A lot of great family, a   lot of great foundations   and corporations support   and Homework Hotline   for our services in Middle   Tennessee and across the state.

Really the support is   both financial as well as   letting people, making   sure the community is aware of our services.

- Absolutely, so the last question is the easy one is where do we go to learn more?

So website, social media, phone numbers, where do we go?

- So baseline, all of our updated information is going to be on our website right here over my shoulder, homeworkhotline.info.

We also are on all the social media networks.

Our phone number, this is our main phone number 615-298-6636.

On our Memphis phone number partnering with Shelby County is 901-416-1234 free tutoring in Tennessee.

- Well Madaline, I love it, greatly appreciate you and your team and all your teachers and everyone for supporting your efforts and all you do.

So thank you so much for coming on the show.

- Yeah, Jeremy, thank you so much for having us.

[upbeat music] - They offer coding services and employment preparation programs.

We're here with the Program Director for Persevere, Stacy Books-Mesko and Stacy let's start, give us some history for Persevere.

- So Persevere started about four to five years ago, one man with a vision coming out of recovery in drug addiction wanted to be able to give back to others.

And so owning a software company and seeing the struggles that everyone had with finding employment and really just being successful, he wanted to be able to give back.

So that's really kind of where we started two years ago, we started here in the state of Tennessee offering coding classes into three of the prisons which is where you're still currently in those prisons.

And our program has expanded a little bit since then.

- To dive in, I mean talk about it.

And when you talk about the coding program let's go into the prison first.

Talk about how you work with the prisoners with the coding educations, so start there.

- Okay, so we actually have software engineers that are instructors that deliver our coding   to those individuals   inside the prison.

Of course, with COVID, we   now deliver that remotely.

Prior to that we   were in the classroom   with them six hours a day,   delivering that program.

- And then you mentioned obviously expanding and so now you're not just in the prison you're outside of the prison as well.

So talk about that aspect.

- Yes, so when COVID first hit, we were awarded a grant through the Tennessee Department of Human Services.

And with that grant, not only were we able to continue the program inside the prison but we were able to open it up to those in the community.

So now our approach is just a little bit different.

It still has to have someone that's just as involved in the program, but it could be a youth between the ages of 11 and 24, or it could be the parent or guardian that's just as involved.

And so two individuals can now learn how to code software and find employment.

And the whole goal behind it is to provide a holistic approach to change that family dynamic, to pull them out of that high poverty, high crime area, and to put them in a successful job that they're able to provide in their family.

- We're definitely gonna come back to the coding in terms of the power of it, but talk about the employment program and the assistance and the services around that because it is a lot more than just the coding.

So talk about the jobs skills.

- Sure, so one of the things that we found was we can teach them to code all day long.

The problem is, is a lot of our students have never had a job or if they had it's not been a job in a professional setting.

So we created what we call career readiness and our employment specialists deliver that curriculum to them inside the prison and outside.

And that focus is not only to prepare them to interview but it's to prepare them to interview in an IT setting, because interviewing in a regular job is completely different than the IT world but it also gives them those essential skills that they need and even breaks it down in how to deliver your criminal history.

What's legal, what's not legal and how to soften that punch of having a background.

- Talk about the coding.

And when you talk about the IT, the tech sector it is rapidly growing, as you mentioned a lot of jobs, lucrative jobs.

So talk about why coding and why tech in terms of the space that you're in.

- We did some serious research to figure out what the market was going to be like.

And according to the United States Department of Labor and Statistics, they were looking at a million job openings in the IT industry, but there was a huge shortfall.

We're talking hundreds of thousands of positions unfilled and we thought, what better population to learn those skills and fill those positions, and those are just as involved.

- And to your point, I feel like within the tech sector, it's a youth led in many cases, a lot more willingness to bring on those who have served some time or have made a mistake in their past and giving them a second chance.

So I feel like of any industry the coding and the tech space is a really good opportunity to kind of have a next chance.

- It is.

And you know, a lot of it has to do with educating the employer, educating the organization.

But the thing is, is what we have found with current employers is they're not really concerned about what their background history is.

It's what they can do, what skills can they bring to the table?

And that's really what we're preparing them for.

So not only do we teach them a 12-month coding program but we've also created a side of our program with a for-profit company that offers them six months on the job training.

So that six months gives them an opportunity to work with off shore engineering teams or their senior level developers.

And in to really understand what it's like to work in a production style environment.

- Give us an idea of what success looks like.

- Right now, I have about 26 individuals that have graduated our program.

And I know that doesn't   seem like a very high number   but we normally have an   average of 17 students   in our classrooms.

When COVID hit a lot of our students were released without our knowledge.

And so we're still trying to pull them back in.

We have zero recidivism.

So for that that's success, that means that none of our students have committed a new crime or being rearrested.

All of our graduates have been employed in an IT field and they're all either living independently on their own.

Some of them are still living in our transition home.

And so seeing them not only live independently, but find that full-time employment, that's what it's all about.

- Absolutely, talk about how we can help.

- So there's multiple things that someone can help.

One of those ways is volunteers.

You're always looking for someone in an IT field that's willing to mentor or volunteer.

Here in Memphis we have the men's transition home.

So we're always looking for individuals that are willing to mentor those guys maybe come in and cook dinner and just really kind of sponsor them right through the changes and the transition.

Of course, financially, we're always willing to take any type of donation.

And then it either really comes down to donation of clothing.

Some of our guys move from the transition home into their own housing.

So we've been blessed.

A lot of people have provided beds and dressers and tables.

And so things like that, but, we're willing to take anyone and everyone who's willing to kind of jump in and help these guys succeed.

- And then talk about website, social media, phone number, where do we go to get involved?

- Yeah, so I'm actually gonna give you my personal cell.

It rings off the hook anyway.

So my cell phone number is 615-582-7796.

You can also go to our website, which is perseverenow.org.

And there is a section on there where you can complete a volunteer application.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

- Well, Stacy greatly appreciate all you and your team do.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- All right, thank you.

[upbeat music] - The Spark Awards annually recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the community.

The 2020 recipient of the Educator Award is Roya Alizadegan of Houston High School.

[soft music] - Okay, so I have been teaching special education for 12 years now.

I've been at Houston for, oh my gosh.

I came in January of 2015.

So I've been here for six years.

This is my sixth year and I am on the general ed side of special education so my students are mainstreamed   and the general   education classes   I have co-taught algebra   two for six years here.

I've co-taught English   11 a couple of years,   geometry, algebra one.

But this year I mainly   am in with algebra two and at post-secondary.

So it's a transition to post-secondary class where our students with IEPs are working towards graduation.

And I wanna make sure that they have a program or a college or a career whatever they decide after graduating high school   that they are prepared   and they are ready   to enter the real world.

Academics are huge and   academics are important   but teaching them how   to be a good human   and being a good individual   is equally as important to me.

And after you build   those relationships that's when you can truly help them academically and helping them find out what their strengths are and where their weaknesses are and how they can advocate for themselves and still learn the same material that everybody else does.

They may learn a little bit differently and it maybe a little bit harder for them.

And they may have to work   a little bit more at it   but being there through   them, working with them,   coming alongside them   and helping them   achieve all their goals.

And I think just watching   them grow and mature   and seeing how different they   are just from ninth grade to senior year, how much they've grown and matured is really probably what lights me up most.

And then checking up and following through with them while they're in school or in college.

I still talk to students that graduated 12 years ago and I'd love to just touch base and say, "Hey, where are you at?"

I've gone to a couple of weddings of kids.

And so I think it's really huge   kind of catch up with them,   from 14 and some   are now 25, 26   and just see where they are   and how great they're doing.

I think that's what I   love most about teaching.

- They're a community for growth.

We're here with the Co-Founder of UpSquad Derrick Reives.

And Derrick let's start, give us a little bit of what led you to start UpSquad.

- First of all, thank you for inviting me today just to share a story with the community.

We began probably two and a half years ago.

We noticed that there was a great need for those who needed advice to find those who could provide them with that help and that advice virtually.

So we create a community to make it easy, just to go online and find people that can help you in any area of life.

What happened is, as soon as social distancing hit we found that there's a, just a huge need with many many different types of organizations.

So what we did at that point is just quickly evolved in 2020, to an overall virtual community   where organizations can just   take all of their members   put them online in   a virtual community.

This helps them   with engagement   because there's   definitely a need now   for engagement virtually when   you move from face-to-face   to virtual, also it helps   from a data standpoint.

So we're talking about, nonprofits, schools, whether it's K-12, universities, as well as businesses.

- You've got the fully integrated platform that brings on Zoom and these other technologies.

So everything is in one place that allows them to communicate, collaborate, connect for nonprofits, for schools as you mentioned, teaming up with mentors, students, alumni, so illustrate a little bit how the platform is used.

- Sure, so you definitely hit on something.

We have built value on top of Zoom,   since everyone is virtual   already on their phones   or computers, we have really   taken it to the next level.

Some people refers   to Zoom on steroids   once they see our demo   and what we could do.

So I'll give you   some examples.

In the Nashville area we are partnered with an organization, they are helping 12 area Nashville public schools and they are partnering professionals in the community with students to really help them in their career.

We're also a partnered with another organization out of Chicago doing the same thing with a public Chicago school system.

So they are very, very excited because it gives access to professionals in the community to young adults.

Those that may be in school or right out of school that really need their advice and help.

Also right here in town, in Memphis we partnered with Leadership Memphis.

So what they're using it for us to take leaders around town and their current programs that they're going through.

I know many people watching this are probably Leadership Memphis alumni.

So everything is virtual now.

So they're using a UpSquad to basically create a virtual community so that the current classes and future classes will have this virtual community to communicate one-on-one as well as in their teams, as part of this program.

So we're happening with young adults and leaders, alike disadvantaged communities.

I really can't stress that enough organizations out of Arizona that we're talking to that worked with special athletes, organizations out of New York City that work with New York City youth.

So the examples go on and on.

- And I think part of the magic is that everything is in one place.

And so you can put your availability, you can book it directly, you can sync everything.

There's a lot of functionality to it.

Share maybe one or two other things that really do make it special in that regard in terms of making it easy and seamless.

So what we found is that if you talk to different organizations and we've talked a hundreds of them, is that they are attacking the virtual problem now in different ways.

So some are using this   technology with Google,   some are using Zoom, some   are using Microsoft Teams,   some are using,   they're collecting data   through survey technologies.

What we've done is we   said, you know what?

Instead of reinventing the   wheel, what we're doing is   we're integrating with   all these top technologies   that they're already using.

And so they can   come to one place   and actually use those   same technologies   that they're using   to capture data,   or to bring people by   video or to do this.

So by building in one place, it puts the data in one place.

This is what's really missing how to use that data for grant funding, how to capture that data, to improve your programs, to find out who's getting help and who's not.

So that's how we're definitely helping in that area.

- Talk, being a Memphis-based company in the sense of local investors working within the entrepreneurial community, give a little bit of what that's like on your end as a Memphis-based company.

- So when we started, we were launched out of the University of Memphis Crews Center for Entrepreneurship.

So we are then supported during our lifetime with this organization by the university.

So we are backed by them with them as well as funders from that organization.

So what they're doing is they're making sure that we succeed.

And so we're also partnered with other organizations in town.

So startups here in town or nonprofits or schools here in town, they love the story.

So we talked to a school right before the Christmas holidays that deals with kids with learning disabilities.

So they wanna use this because we are Memphis-based.

So we're gaining a lot of support, a lot of traction because we are here in Memphis.

Our goal is to hire in Memphis.

So we are now hiring, we're looking for a salesperson.

I wanted to kind of throw that out there.

Our goal is to grow innovation in Memphis.

Our goal is to show others that they can succeed here in Memphis with an innovative technology, that this can be ground zero.

- We'll wrap up Derrick with contact information, website, where do we go to learn more and to plug into UpSquad?

- I do wanna say this though before we wrap up.

I think we're all looking forward to getting back together, face-to-face.

This is what, me personally as well as the organizations, but what organizations have realized is that this is around to stay.

That there's a new era of business.

This hybrid model that schools have already enacted where things in the future will be part face-to-face and part virtual.

And so we're helping prepare for this hybrid model, this new era of business.

So please contact us at upsquad.com.

If you come to our homepage on upsquad.com there's a place to just put in a contact us and we'll get right back to you.

- Derrick, thank you for all you and your team do, greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you.

[upbeat music] - Hard to believe but this episode kicks off year number nine for The Spark.

It's an honor and a privilege to continue sharing the good news and to continue highlighting the organizations and individuals who power the good in our community.

Organizations like Homework Hotline are making a difference by helping our K12 students advance their education through free tutoring and reading, language arts, math, social studies, science, and more, which are all taught by certified teachers.

Nonprofits like Persevere are stepping into the prison system to provide hope and opportunities through their coding and employment preparation programs which decreases recidivism and creates a positive ripple effect in our community.

And Memphis-based companies like UpSquad continue innovating to advance our ability to collaborate and grow through their virtual communities and integrated technologies.

The more we collaborate, the greater the difference we can make.

So thank you for your support and for continuing to power the good.

To learn more about each of the guests, to watch past episodes and to share your stories of others, leading by example, visit wkno.org and click on the link for The Spark.

We look forward to seeing you next month, and we hope that you continue joining with us to create a spark for the Mid-South.

- Lipscomb and Pitts   Insurance is honored   to serve the Memphis   community for over 60 years,   we've always focused on   supporting our community   and believe in   promoting the positives,   encouraging engagement   and leading by example.

Lipscomb and Pitts Insurance is proud to be a presenting sponsor for The Spark.

[upbeat music] [acoustic guitar chords]