(upbeat music) - [Narrator] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.

- Just ahead on "Carolina Impact," - Enrolled, enlisted or employed, CMS is asking high school seniors what's your E?

I'm Jeff Sonier here at Bank of America Stadium where it turns out the right answer is whatever's right for you.

- Plus from Serbia to Charlotte, how a woodworker creates pieces throughout the area and how he helps his neighbor.

Plus it may look like just a bunch of junk in his front yard, but one Charlotte man says there's a method to his madness.

"Carolina Impact" starts right now.

(upbeat music) Good evening, Thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Amy Burkett.

Graduation day is only a few weeks away at Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools.

Everybody moving up a grade except for high school seniors who are moving out into the real world, and CMS wants to make sure those students are ready for what's next.

"Carolina Impact's" Jeff Sonier and videographer Max Arnold take us to Bank of America Stadium for an event that CMS is calling "What's Your E?"

- Yeah, there's lots of ways to measure success at CMS.

Maybe test scores or graduation rates or reading comprehension levels, but for 600 CMS seniors here at the stadium, while it's not just about making good grades, but also about making good decisions about their future.

(upbeat music) It is not game day here at Bank of America Stadium.

So what are these CMS students lining up for and signing up for?

(audience applauds) And why is former Panther Star Steve Smith here too?

- [Fan] You don't know who Steve Smith is, by end of day, you gonna know who he is.

- [Commentator 1] The Carolina Panthers are in the Super Bowl.

- [Commentator 2] Gonna go deep down the far sideline.

It is caught, touchdown, Steve Smith!

- [Jeff] But before he had an all Pro Panthers career, before he had a big time football scholarship to college, Steve Smith says what he had first is what all these high school kids should have now, a plan.

- I have employment, I work at a big firm.

I put myself through college.

My mom was struggling, worked at Taco Bell for two and a half years.

- Smith is the keynote speaker at this year's first ever CMS "What's Your E" celebration?

- [Announcer] Nathan Benson, Zoliah Torrance, Zoriah Stevens and Cesar Res Linda Varde.

- [Jeff] Over 600 CMS students showing up and showing off their certificates, showing that they're ready for what comes next after high school.

- So my job is to articulate like I'm doing now, and tell your story.

- Our goal is to ensure that every student, every student, every student graduates from CMS enrolled, enlisted or employed.

- [Jeff] Those three Es- enrolled, enlisted or employed are a theme that first year CMS Superintendent Crystal Hill first told us about at the beginning of the school year, explaining that for individual students, a CMS education can't just be one-size-fits-all anymore.

- One of the things that we're charged with is preparing today's students for tomorrow's future.

And it's a future that is so uncertain.

We don't know what tomorrow holds.

(upbeat music) - Enroll.

- Enroll.

- Enroll - [Jeff] For these CMS seniors headed to college, What's your E means already enrolling in college level classes offered jointly by CMS and Central Piedmont.

Getting exposures to careers that require a college diploma.

Cora McDaniel wants to become a children's counselor.

- I got to do general psychology as my dual enrollment class and it not only gave me like the college credits for that course, which is a plus, but I got to kind of test the waters and see if I even wanna be a psychology major when I went to college and I still do So that's a great thing for me.

- We have Air Force, we have Army, we have Navy.

(audience applauding) - Down the hall School board member Lenora Ship tells this group of CMS students enlisting in the military that what they're doing today is what her own family members did a generation ago.

Making a commitment to serve their country that will also serve them well in their own lives.

- Thank you for what you're doing.

I do want you to know it is a journey, but it's a journey worth taking and I am so proud of you making this decision and you are in for a great, great future.

Thank you.

(audience applauding) I wanna say congratulations to you on selecting your E, which is employed.

- And while getting that first full-time job right out of high school isn't always easy, some of these employed CMS students already have job skills they learned while in high school.

- So right now I'm just putting in the hard drive and I'm just closing the back and changing some other settings that we are required to do.

- [Jeff] Like this program at Garinger High School, teaching students how to repair and refresh donated computers that are then shared with families who don't have computers.

Or this carpentry class at Independence High School where what these students are building today could be the blueprint for their career tomorrow.

(drill spinning) - So it's gonna give 'em good training.

They're gonna have the ability to advance.

It's gonna come with good pay, good benefits.

I want them to be able to get health insurance, a retirement plan.

(hammer pounding) - You may not realize that your decision to be employed is laying the foundation for your future and this decision is going to open up lots of doors of opportunities to help you create the future that you've imagined.

- Okay, so what about all those students who still haven't chosen their e, who still aren't enrolled, enlisted, or employed?

Well that's why the school system also held an undecided day for students that are still making up their minds, connecting those students with more information about colleges and careers, helping them to make that first big decision out of school that could impact their lives in a positive way.

Amy?

- Thank you so much Jeff.

If you'd like to learn more about What's your E at CMS, check out our website wtvi.org.

We'll link you to a video posted on the official CMS Facebook page that also takes you inside the stadium for all the festivities.

Well up next, from Serbia to Charlotte, a local man took a leap of faith to give himself and his family a better life.

Since arriving almost two decades ago, Miroslav "Mickey" Petrovic has been crafting fascinating objects out of wood, but he's also making an impact as a caregiver.

In this week's Meet your Neighbors segment.

"Carolina Impact's" Dara Khalid and videographer Russ Hunsinger show us how Petrovic carves out time to pursue his woodworking passion while helping those in the Queen city.

♪ I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you ♪ ♪ I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you ♪ ♪ So would you be mine ♪ ♪ Could you be mine ♪ ♪ Won't you be my neighbor ♪ My neighbor.

- [Dara] With a close eye.

Mickey Petrovic watches his CNC router carved smooth ridges into wood plates.

- Okay.

- [Dara] Inside his tiny home shop, every turn, slice and clamp are done with precision.

- Organize a piece of wood to gluing together to make in some shape.

(duster blowing) - [Dara] Surrounded by sawdust, Mickey works with small pieces of wood at a time, mainly because there's not enough room in the shop for large projects.

- I cannot assemble everything to see is everything perfectly fit.

Sometime I definitely need to check some pieces and I bring outside and connect everything.

And this is coming taller than my garage.

(laughs) - Taller than his garage and house, Mickey is talking about the iconostasis stands he's made for different orthodox churches across the country, including his own in Charlotte.

- You see people like your work and people enjoy what you build.

This is maybe more like satisfied and making me happy than anything.

- [Dara] The same detailed craftsmanship he does in churches are done on a smaller scale too, with lamps, TV stands, and chairs.

- I have this artistic in myself and I like to doing unique stuff.

I don't like to doing too much like copying or what I see on the internet.

- [Dara] Taking a walk around Mickey's home, you'll find several one of a kind pieces.

- I build this bar and frame around bar this lights here.

- [Dara] Plus these lights.

- And this is a Brazilian cherry - [Dara] Picture frames and coffee tables.

- This is Walnut.

- [Dara] With so many projects, he says he's fortunate he doesn't have to work alone.

(file sanding) Mickey's wife Jacquelina is his trusted assistant.

Just like her husband, she has unbreakable concentration, smoothing every edge with her tool and buffing to perfection.

- Helping Mickey is really fulfilling for me too.

It's a relaxing, it's my dream too, to do some art works.

Like from being a child, I always wanted to do some arts too.

- [Dara] Jacquelin and Mickey aren't the only talented ones in the family.

- I see a lot of photographs that they took when I was little and I'm just in the shop probably when I was five years old, six years old in the shop helping him sand, cut wood.

I'm not really doing much at that time, but I feel like I'm doing something.

- The couple's 22-year-old son, Vuk is a graduate student at UNCC majoring in architecture.

He's a craftsman in his own right, creating award-winning sculptures, abstract lamps and paintings.

- I think it meant a lot to me and him that I was just there and interested in what he was doing.

I think it actually paved sort of my road to what I like to do in the future and what I'm doing right now.

- Do you remember Mickey, this?

- Our first month in Los Angeles?

- Yeah, This is Santa Monica.

- [Dara] Sitting on their couch flipping through pictures from the past, this close-knit family bonds over more than just woodworking.

- This was the car that brought us here to Charlotte.

Everything we had fit in this car.

- [Dara] The trio reflects on their humble journey from New York to Charlotte in the early 2000s.

Before that, they had to leave everything behind in Serbia.

- Any decision to moving from your born country or city is not easy.

In the first moment, Zakina maybe is a little more like, for to stay in the Serbia, but we are really thinking about future, about my son's life and even our lives, you know, decision is very hard.

- [Dara] For the Petrovics, this sacrifice was worth it.

They even gained a new family member in the process.

- Hello David, I'm here.

Morning, Dave.

How are you sleeping today?

- [Dara] Their neighbor David Doll.

For 18 years, Mickey has been David's caregiver, helping him with everyday tasks, like getting out of bed and preparing for the day.

- They told me at rehab, you can't be friends with your caregivers.

And I thought, well, that seems kind of ridiculous.

- [Dara] Ridiculous and impossible for the two who bonded quickly despite a language barrier.

- The chair isolates you a little bit sometimes and sometimes that can be the only interaction I have.

You know, I, I have other caregivers and it's more kind of transactional and you know, they're going down the road.

But you know, he's invited me to his house twice a day for delicious food and you know, wonderful coffee.

- [Dara] Moments that they all cherish.

- He's like my uncle and my best friend.

We talk all the time.

He comes over every morning.

It's really amazing, like the connection and the bond that we have 'cause he's one of the nicest, most kind people you can ever meet, really.

(speaking in foreign language) - [Dara] Even though they're over 5,000 miles from their native home, the Petrovics say they wouldn't trade anything for their newfound home in Charlotte or the friends who've become family.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Dara Khalid.

- Thanks Dara.

Here's a fun fact.

Mickey says it takes him anywhere from nine months to a year to complete one of those massive iconostasis stands you saw.

He also tells us he's building a few smaller items right now for different churches throughout the area.

Well, continuing on with our creative theme.

Art for most of us brings joy, beauty, and enrichment to our lives.

But what about the artists who create the beauty?

You may have heard the phrase starving artist.

However, for supporters of the art world, it's a description that some say should disappear.

"Carolina Impact's" Bea Thompson and Videographer Marcellus Jones show us how one model designed to support artists in our region has provided more than just space in a gallery, it puts eyes from around the world on the Queen City's art scene.

(gentle music) - [Bea] Driving around the Queen City, you may have seen them.

Billboards displaying incredible artwork that more than catches your eye.

What you're experiencing is the culmination of an effort to support the arts.

That's called Simply Art Pop.

So just what is Art Pop, you might say?

It's creator and originator.

Wendy Hickey describes it this way.

- We're here to make art accessible to every single person who lives in this community, who goes outside of their door.

- [Bea] 11 years ago, she started this concept.

As one who had worked in the billboard industry, her aha moment was to utilize those billboards as a springboard for supporting artists.

- And those judges change every year.

And those judges select 20 artists each and every year.

And we support them for an entire calendar year through showing their art on billboards, through business education classes, through events and selling opportunities.

We do absolutely everything imaginable for these artists for an entire calendar year.

And then they are always a part of our community.

- [Bea] For all the artists who become a part of this effort, the change in their lives and their careers has been monumental.

- It changed my trajectory at the time.

I planned, since I got into Art Pop, I made a plan to get back into my business.

- [Bea] The former illustrator says the one year specific development of her business plan, wider exposure of her art, all have provided a major assist, but the biggest assist for the Houston transplant was having a community of artists around her.

- I cannot do this alone and I don't want to do this alone.

I need that community and I need that support.

And to be seen means so much in the interaction I'm getting with the public and the way people are responding to my work has been incredible.

And it does make me feel, yes I can, I can do this.

- And without art, without our ability to feel, to think, to interact, we don't have much.

I learned that I could take an idea or visual in my brain and I could communicate that onto paper.

And after that it was like I was kind of like a scientist.

So I was, and then I learned about Alchemy and from there I just couldn't let it go.

So I kept going with it.

- [Bea] Each artist has their own space where they create the pieces that Art Pop helps to promote while assisting that artist with everything from business plans to exhibit spaces.

In the 11 years of Art Pop, 207 artists have been through the program.

Now a new program called Inspiration Projects has aided an additional 60 to 80 other artists for serving as project managers.

It is the next step to aid the artists.

- We act as the project management firm and we take care of every detail and deliver you back your project.

But we do that by hiring a local artist to make sure that that project gets completed.

- [Bea] Over the past three years, those projects have made a major financial difference for the artists.

- We have paid local artists $665,000 so far.

- Yet for most people in this region, the billboards may be the only tangible thing they see for many of these emerging artists.

- We have 16 billboard partners.

So our artists are seen locally here, they're seen regionally here, they're seen nationally, and sometimes internationally.

Like this year, our artists were in Times Square for an entire month on a 97 foot tall digital billboard.

in the heart of Times Square.

- Art Pop has been a wonderful opportunity for so many artists for so many years for exposure, exposure, exposure.

- [Bea] And for many artists like Brett, making a commitment to his art meant changing his life.

- Being a ceramic artist was aa mental decision.

And I was a roofer for a few years and I decided to be an apprentice.

And what better to learn what to do, how to do it from a master potter.

So I was a ceramic apprentice for two years.

- [Bea] For these artists, Art Pop has changed the direction of their craft.

And yet Art Pop wants you to know there are still more artists who need support.

- Local artists need support.

They are talented.

They make our community a more beautiful place to live.

They create opportunities to speak about things that are difficult to talk about.

They bring together communities, they must be supported.

- And the ultimate triumph for the artist, having their work seen on that billboard in Times Square, New York.

- Through Art Pop, I've been able to see my billboard in Times Square, New York.

I'm just a little girl from the east side of Charlotte.

I never in a million years thought that I would be standing in Times Square with my mother beside me seeing something that I created myself.

- [Bea] To simply be seen is the dream of many a little girl and boy and the hope of every artist.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Bea Thompson.

- Thank you Bea.

Wanna know more about how you can get involved in the city's program, inspiration projects or community events?

Head over to our website at wtvi.org.

You'll also find information on how you can support Art Pop Street Gallery and local artists.

Well, finally tonight, last week, "Carolina Impact" Reporter Jason Terzis brought us the story of the Park Community Development Corporation, a non-profit that works in a variety of ways to help those underserved in the area.

While on his way to cover the story, Jason saw something that caught his eye.

He immediately pulled a U-turn and went back for a closer look.

This is what he found.

- [Jason] The traffic usually whizzes by.

- People these days they just, they rush, rush, rush, rush.

- [Jason] But with roadwork happening just up the street on Sunset, drivers are slowing down.

- But when they see this yard, they stop and kind of look, you know what's going on over there.

- [Jason] They're taking notice of what's happening in Joe and Charlene Martin's front yard.

- When people stop for traffic, they're always looking at all of this stuff.

- [Jason] All of this stuff is one way of putting it because there's a little bit of everything here.

Just take a look.

From mailboxes and bowling balls to bicycles.

Electric saw blades with faces, even the hood from a seventies TransAm and lots and lots of old metal frame wheels.

- Yeah, I love old wheels because you gotta keep on rolling, you know, I don't care how old you are, you gotta keep rolling.

- [Jason] There's metal windmills, airplane wind turbines, the incredible Hulk, a rusty metal bed frame, all sorts of odd looking creatures.

And the robot from the sixties television series "Lost in Space."

- Danger Will Robinson, danger, no Will Robinson.

- [Jason] So many things that I'm not even sure what half of them are, let alone how to describe 'em.

- And this right here, oh, this is crazy.

- [Jason] What is that?

- That's a good question.

It's some kind of critter.

(chimes ringing) - [Jason] There's wind chimes in a wooden whale, racing tires and parking meters, metal grasshoppers and roosters, an old Charlotte Coliseum road sign, even some sort of metal muffler lady.

- Here's the pretty lady, I call her pretty lady, but she's not really too pretty.

But she's been through a lot of windstorms and hurricanes and got kind of fat lips.

A piece of drift would hit her in her lips one day.

- [Jason] Some might look at it and just call it a junkyard.

Others see art and beauty and tons of nostalgia.

- I think it gives them a flashback to the past, I really do.

- Because the world's the world.

You've got all kind of different things and a lot of times you have to go to a certain place to see 'em.

They come to this yard and see everything.

- And we've had two or three neighbors come by and say, we enjoy your yard every time we come through here.

And we come by here every day going to work.

- [Jason] Joe and Charlene have called this place home for nearly 25 years.

They had some of the stuff when they moved in, but since they did, they just kept accumulating.

- I went with him everywhere he would go, usually, buying this stuff and sometimes wondering, okay, where's he gonna put it?

- And this old boat, this right boat used to be on the river for about 30 or 40 years.

And this lady had, was fixing the junk it, sell it for junk.

And I, and me and my buddy got it and brought it here.

- [Jason] The collection actually started inside with a Native American theme.

There's wood carvings, pots, tapestry, knives, even iron arrows.

- I've been collecting Indian stuff for a long time and I started going to shows and meeting some people and they was collectors.

Back in their day, they would go out and dig for the stuff, get permits and go out and dig for it.

- He started bringing so many things.

He was using everything with a flat surface and I didn't have a place to put anything.

- [Jason] As the years went by, Joe started picking up more and more things.

And since he ran outta space inside, things started going outside.

- Flea markets, like I say, antique malls.

We go to Nashville once a year.

And a big one up there.

I mean, they have all kind of things up there.

- [Jason] There's so much stuff, not even the front yard could contain it all.

So it went around to the side where you'll find a boat motor, Colonel Sanders and a fence with a fishing theme.

- That's the fence of happiness.

- [Jason] The fence of happiness.

- Yeah.

- [Jason] Now why do you call it that?

- Because when people come out here, they get happy.

They're looking at each other.

"I remember that, where'd you get that?"

You know.

- [Jason] A sign out front says park here, and people often do.

One lady recently spent three hours roaming the yard.

Some ask if stuff is for sale, others want to drop things off.

- A man stopped one time out in the road and he looked like he was headed to the junkyard.

And I thought, oh gosh, what's he doing?

So I went out there and he wanted to leave off something.

He said, "I thought this was too good to go to the junkyard and it looks like that it could belong right in this yard.

Can I leave it off?"

I said, well go ahead and leave it.

Yeah and I think Joe would be okay with that.

- One day, this guy just, I found this in the yard.

He dropped off this old goat in the yard.

He said, my mom don't like that old goat.

'cause when she was a kid, it buttered her a lot of times, it scared her.

So she said, "will you please take it," So I took it.

- [Jason] One visitor even found a part to an old tractor he'd been searching for, the part had long ago been discontinued and he couldn't find it anywhere else.

- He said, "I'd like to buy it from you."

I said, nah.

He told him about it and I said, just keep it.

- [Jeff] Intermixed with all the stuff, there's a slew of plants and out back, there's a greenhouse full of cactuses.

- And that's the old man cactus right here.

- [Jason] The guy in the back?

- Yeah, he's about 35 years old.

- [Jason] Wow.

- Look, don't fall in love with the cactus.

You get stuck.

(laughs) And that's true.

- [Jason] Joe often gives visitors a plant as a way of saying thanks for stopping by.

- And I used to give 'em a little something.

I'd dig 'em up a plant or take 'em to greenhouse, give 'em a cactus or something like that.

You know, just, you know, try.

You gotta give something back.

You can't keep everything all the time.

- [Jason] Whether you call it a junk yard, an artistic garden, or anything else, Joe's goal in all this is simple to make people happy if even for the few seconds it takes to drive by.

- Right, it's worth it, I don't care.

You know where we go in life, you gotta give something back, a lot back.

You make people smile, you're doing a good job.

A smiles a lot better than a frown.

- [Jason] I bet even the chilling out alien along the front walk would agree.

For "Carolina Impact", I'm Jason Terzis reporting.

- Thank you Jason.

The Martins say no one has ever stolen anything from their yard.

And all told, Joe estimates he spent well over a hundred thousand dollars on all the things he has there, with just about all of it photographed, cataloged, and insured.

If you have an interesting story idea like this one, email us the details to stories at wtvi.org.

Before we leave this evening, I wanna say thank you to the amazing group of homeschoolers from across our region who turned out today to be in our studio audience.

They had great questions and just a darn good looking group.

Well, that is all the time we have now.

Thanks so much for joining us.

We always appreciate your time and look forward to seeing you back here again next time on "Carolina Impact."

Goodnight my friends.

(light music) - [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.