- This month on The SPARK, our theme is "Centered in Germantown, but Impacting the Mid-South".

We'll learn about a nonprofit providing theatrical entertainment and educational opportunities for Mid-South families, an organization mobilizing community resources to support educational programs with Germantown Municipal School District and a music school that's giving back and using music to transform lives and our community.

We'll also share a special moment from our SPARK Awards 2023.

- From Higginbotham's founding in 1948, our insurance agency has been built on the values of customer service, leading with integrity and supporting our community.

We believe in promoting the positives, encouraging engagement, and leading by example to power the good.

Higginbotham Insurance and Financial Services is honored to be the presenting sponsor of The SPARK.

- (male announcer) Additional funding for The SPARK is provided by United Way of the Mid-South, EcOp, the Memphis Zoo, and by My Town Movers, My Town Roofing.

[light music] - Have you 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're a nonprofit providing theatrical entertainment and educational opportunities for Mid-South families.

We're here with the executive director of Germantown Community Theater, Marques Brown.

And let's start out, give us some background for Germantown Community Theatre.

- Thank you, Jeremy.

Yeah, well, you know, we're real proud of our little turn of the century schoolhouse turned theatre out here in Germantown.

Germantown Community Theatre has been an entity since the early '70s, really founded by the group that is known now as the Germantown Women's Club.

Huge organization that does so much good for our area around here.

They're really the ones that established the first community library here in this area as well.

But in the early '80s, we shifted over from being a little space outside of the St. George's Church to moving into our current building, which we've been in ever since.

And nothing new about this building though.

As I mentioned, this building itself was once a church, it was also once a one room schoolhouse back when Germantown area was just an unincorporated area outside of Memphis, a trade route, you know, stop if you will.

But you know, of course we have a, a lovely community out here in Germantown and we're real proud of what we do here at GCT.

Our mission is to entertain, engage, and give me the rest of those words there, Steven.

- Enrich.

- Enrich and educate.

I don't, I don't even know if I got that right.

But we do all of those things.

We, and we do them very well.

Really proud of our upcoming season.

And you know, we're super crazy around here right now 'cause we're right smack dab in the middle of our summer camps for youth.

But very proud of our education programming as well.

- Well, let's go ahead and stay on that thread of summer camps, because education is a huge part of what you do and creating opportunities for youth and adults here in the community.

So, dive into the summer programs.

- We are in our third, fourth summer camp right now, yeah.

We're in the midst of our fourth week of summer camps.

There's two more to go.

One more official, and then another one coming up in July.

This year, our theme for our summer camps are, it's, they're all musical theaters and they are in fact musical theaters that started as movies.

So, you know, we just closed probably the most successful run of a show GCT has ever had in its history with "Legally Blonde" out here.

And that's what kicked off our summer series as well for youth.

So kids ages five through high school can come and do what our one week intensive music theater bootcamps, essentially.

They come in on Monday, they take classes in singing, dancing, design and acting.

And it's amazing how much these kids learn and develop in just five days, you know, of working with materials and our wonderful instructors.

But that is something that we repeat all summer long and, but that's just, you know, one of the many different educational opportunities we have.

We're also, this Saturday in our final workshop day of the Full Spectrum Theater workshop, something that I developed and brought with me to Germantown Community Theater in which we work with as young as 10 and 11 year olds, but as old as adults that are even older than myself.

All of them either with that are autistic or with down syndrome or other learning developments and, you know, disorders or diagnoses, and really, really rewarding.

This Saturday's our culminating performance of our summer session of that.

And they'll also be doing a performance on our main stage for their friends and family.

So wrapping up a couple of our, you know, of our two educational programs we're most proud of right now.

- And talk about what that means for youth, for adults, opportunities, confidence building, communication, and public speaking.

So much of this plays a role in personal professional success for years to come.

- We know that students who are engaged in the arts, and especially in the theatrical arts at a young age, have a better percentage of success in literacy as they get older.

The collaboration that they learn because the theater, you know, I would argue is the most collaborative of all the art forms, gives them opportunity to learn what it is like to work as a team, to rely on other people's strengths and to develop their own strengths in a space that feels safe to do that, to take those risks, to try something they've never tried before.

You know, and this is true for athletics, it's true for music, it's true for so many things, but the number of children that I have seen come through one of our programs and learn something new about themselves that have allowed them to open up, to become better learners, better participants in every, in every aspect of their lives because of what they experienced here or at their school theater program.

You know, it's kind of mind blowing and it happens all the time.

It never really ends.

And so it's one of those constant joys to see happen over and over again.

- So where do we go to learn more and get involved with Germantown Community Theatre?

- Well, sure, I think the best thing that I could, you know, aim people towards is our website, www.gctcomeplay.org.

There, you know, you'll read that our mission is to entertain, educate, engage, and enrich.

You can find information about all of our education programming, including our Full Spectrum Theater initiative, which includes those special needs educational opportunities I talked about.

And you can learn more of how you can come and sit in the audience during our sensory friendly performances with sign language interpretation.

But you can learn all about how you can support us through support, volunteering, auditioning, checking out our ticket packages and how you can become a donor all in that one space.

- Well, Marques Brown, thank you for all you and your amazing team do at Germantown Community Theatre.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you, Jeremy, I appreciate it.

[upbeat music] - They're an organization mobilizing community resources to support educational programs with Germantown Municipal School District.

We're here with the executive director of the Germantown Education Foundation, Elaine Hare, and let's start out, give us some background on the Germantown Education Foundation.

- We're a lot older than people think.

We were founded in, believe it or not, 1993.

And then we were chartered in 2006.

So that was a group when a group got together and, and included David Betos, who has remained on our board until this year, very excited about, you know, an 18-year commitment.

And then, so we funded all public schools for grants in Germantown.

And then in 2014 when Germantown Municipal School District was created, we refocused to that school district.

So we've been dedicated to that for 10 years.

- Talk about what you do, because it's a lot in terms of grants and program support, teachers, students, schools.

So dive into what you do.

- And so what we try to do is, is fund what other groups don't fund because we have the big school district, which is, you know, funded by the government, the state, the city, the county.

And then we have the PTOs, which are strong in each school and they raise funds through an annual program and then they give for schools.

But what doesn't get funded is grants for teachers.

So we focus on those particular grants for teachers and for classrooms.

- What sort of feedback are you getting from the teachers, from the schools in terms of what this means to them?

- Teachers love to teach, so they need the tools.

And as tools are developed, or a special class, one class this past year to school had an exceptionally high number of fidgety children and it was hard to keep, and it was a lower grade elementary school class.

And so the teacher found these, these things that you can put on your chairs and they're, they're wobbles so that the children that needed to fidget could just move their chair, which wasn't disrupting everybody in the class.

So she wrote a grant, we were like, that's an excellent need.

One of the grants we just did was a math teacher at Houston High School and she wanted an iPad Pro and she teaches some AP math classes where she could be anywhere in the room and it, her work show up on the TV so she could walk as she's teaching.

That's the other thing.

Teaching has changed because of technology.

Getting and keeping the attention of children who have been looking at screens since almost birth is, is a task that is, that is evolving.

And so we want to help teachers when they say, "Hey, there's a tool, we need it."

- Talk about how this in a larger context is really strengthening our community.

- It is.

And, it's small things.

Like I say, when we funded chess club, one of the schools wanted to start a chess club.

Well, we know because data shows what learning to play chess and being successful at chess does to help other academics.

So it's can be as small as that.

Or this year where we bought 40 guitar, one school needed a music program and they wanted student guitars.

So we bought 40 student guitars and the teacher a guitar.

So it's not just STEM, which is important, but for us to have top-level education, to remain one of the top schools, not just in Tennessee, but in the country, we've gotta stay current.

So we have to stay current with the academics.

We have to stay current when a teacher wants to attend a conference.

And that's another thing they can use their $500 for, because we want our children to grow up and stay home.

We want them to feel that this was a great education for them and to come back and to raise their children here.

That's critical, right?

- Absolutely.

Talk about how the community can help your efforts.

- Because we are a foundation, then what we do is we raise funds to give them away and we operate on an annual budget.

So we have three events throughout the year.

We have a race, which is a 5K and a color run, and we have a new, a dance party and we have a lemonade stand day.

Our the biggest fundraiser that, and we have annual funds and we have donations and we have an endowment.

That's a brand new thing we've also established, but our big fundraiser is our 5K and color run.

And since inception back in 2015, the race has always been in the spring.

Well, this year for the first time we're moving it to the fall.

So we really need the community support because we're having two of our largest fundraisers in the same fiscal year, but not the same academic year.

So our reasoning is, is when we start the school year out, everybody gets to come together and get involved.

That also gives us more funds to grant, say yes to more mini grants, and then have a bigger idea of what the annual grants can apply for.

Because our RFA for annual grant applications goes out in August.

The teachers have to submit it to GMSD by December.

They give it to us in January, and then we decide by May after investigation.

So, 'cause we don't just say yes to the big grants without doing thorough research, we know that it fits with the mission.

The GMSD says, this fits with the mission.

Those are really thought out and detailed applications.

So by having the race at the beginning of the year, we think that we're going to, we can just give more.

And that's all we really want to do is give it away.

- Well, where do we go to learn more and get involved with Germantown Education Foundation?

- Germantowneducation foundation.org.

And there's our numbers, there's our emails.

You know, we're, we're, we very rarely say anything but yes to help support volunteers.

We're just here to serve.

- Well, Elaine Hare, thank you for all you and your amazing team at Germantown Education Foundation do to power the good.

Thank you for coming on the show.

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

The 2023 Education Award for Educators went to Dr. Peter Gathje.

[light music] - I'm Dr. Pete Gathje.

I am the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Academic Dean and also Professor of Christian Ethics at Memphis Theological Seminary.

You know, I'm really interested in how does faith shape our lives as a, as a church, but also as a broader community.

And biblically, what's crucial is how we are in relationship and working with those who are on the sort of, on the bottom of society.

Those who are really struggling, those who have been marginalized.

And so my interest professionally and personally has been in learning from people on the streets, people in poverty.

One of my main textbooks is a place where I work and help to start a place of hospitality called Manna House here in Memphis.

So I've learned a great deal from people on the streets.

They're really my professors, but I'm also, I'm hoping through the work that I do with my students, that they get to know those professors.

But also that together we can work for systemic change to build a more just society, what Dr. King called the Beloved community.

What's really been gratifying is seeing students who I've had in the church is called Radical Hospitality, go back to their own communities and start ministries for people on the streets.

While my personal commitment comes out of a scripture.

Hebrews 13:1-3, it says that we're called to welcome people to practice hospitality.

And that in doing so, some have welcomed angels unawares.

I see that all the time at Manna House.

Not that our guests are always perfectly behaved, but they bring to us the very presence of God, their messengers from God, which is what angels are.

The reason people are on the streets, they're homeless, is they don't have a home.

And what Room in the Inn does is provide a temporary home in the form of shelter.

It's a coalition of churches really here in the city of Memphis.

So it brings together people of faith, organizations of faith with a real need in the city, which is for emergency shelter.

The SPARK Awards means to me is honoring and ratification of the work of a lot of people, both at Memphis Theological Seminary and at Manna House.

That the work that we've been doing together is being recognized as significant in some way.

And that's really exciting for me because I share this award with my students, with my fellow faculty members and with the volunteers at Manna House who are really doing significant work on a daily basis.

I'm just kind of the catalyst, but I'm not the person who's doing all the work, obviously.

It takes a community to do good education and to do good work in the community.

[light music continues] - They're a music school that's giving back and using music to transform lives and our community.

We're here with the co-owner and executive director of Music Box, Yelena Ovando.

And let's start out, music is a big part of your life, your husband's life, your family's life.

Give us a little background for what led you to launch Music Box.

- Hi Jeremy.

Well thank you so much for having us on your show.

We are Music Box and we are a small family owned and operated business.

We're a social enterprise.

That means that we take everything that we can spare from the funds that our school generates and we invest it back into the community.

We are a mom and pop shop, literally.

We're a diversity certified enterprise.

We are five years young and then we are growing and expanding the love.

We do what we love.

So we're happy to be here.

- Give us an idea because it's group classes, it's one-on-one, it's all sorts of instruments.

So unpack what you do at Music Box.

- How much time do you have?

So literally we offer music lessons to kids and adults, or you can use that Christmas song for to kids from 1 to 92.

We work online and in person.

We have two locations in our area, one in Germantown, one in Collierville.

We teach folks how to play and express themselves through piano, guitar, drums, voice, music production recently, ukulele, bass, basically everything that goes into a modern band.

At Music Box, we believe that playing a musical instrument is easier than what people think.

We embrace the passion and the skill level, any skill level of folks that reach out to us.

And you can, you know, music is a lifelong journey.

So you can be a very beginner or you can be a very advanced musician and still learn with us.

So we do group lessons, we studied group lessons in India.

We worked with a coach in New Zealand and anywhere outside the US really, the group lessons is the way to go.

So we're embracing that concept here and we're championing change in the area, offering lessons to beginners now.

But we are expanding to all the instruments, all the different styles of music and all ages.

And then we offer individual lesson program, makes us different from other schools and traditional instruction in the area is that we offer a complex education approach.

So we believe that music is a very social thing.

So at the end of each month we have an open mic night, AKA performance workshop for kids, for teenagers, young adults and the adults.

Everybody comes together and witnesses all the challenges, all the triumphs, all the magic.

We all understand that, you know, we all we're doing is practicing messing up in front of the audience and coming up as winners.

And no one is going to remember whether you played right notes or not, but everybody will remember what kind of feeling and energy you are transcending from that stage.

So not only we offer music education, we also offer building of skills like emotional intelligence, you know, soft skills, communication skills, leadership skills.

We have seen folks coming through our school from very beginner kids, you know, being shy and then going through our program and all the grade levels and now they're teaching for us.

Now they know and embrace music on such a level that it's hard for us to find teachers to teach these kids.

So, you know, a very good problem to have.

But that's what, what we're all about.

- Talk about community engagement.

- We have two very, very musical kids ourselves.

We're both trained musicians.

I have worked a corporate job before, so I knew how important it was for all the folks to be, you know, involved in your community no matter what job or industry you're in.

So when we opened a school, we thought we are not just going to be about education.

We have to make it all about the people that we serve.

So, you know, we approach our marketing dollars and sponsorships and advertising with the angle of if it's free for the community, everything else will happen organically.

So all of our performances are free.

So we believe that everybody should be sharing their musical skills and talents for good.

Everybody, even if it's a shy or beginner musician, wants to share their music and craft.

So we purposely create opportunities for, you know, need in our communities, whether it's performing at the Fair on the Square or performing at the festival or performing in a nursing home or performing somewhere in the school.

And that helps us spread the word and the goodness of the services that we provide.

But it also helps the kids to see other kids playing and seeing, oh, I can do that, right?

And it, if we bring a smile to somebody's face that day, then you know, we've done our part.

You know, we just want to spread the goodness, we want, we bring our instruments and folks can interact with those and we teach 'em a couple of tricks and they get instant gratification from that.

And the rest is history.

But we are all about impacting lives.

We are all about making our communities better.

You know, like I said, if you have a lot of time, I can tell you about all the festivals we put on and everything.

But you can learn everything by just simply following us on social because we post nonstop.

So find us, 901 Music Box Inc. at all the existing social platforms and learn how you can be part of our family that we're intentionally building of our community.

And you know, if we can help you in any way, whether it's music related or not, we're game.

- Well wrap up with where we can go to learn more and get involved with Music Box.

- I will be so happy to do that.

So our website address is very simple.

It's www.musicboxinc.com.

And from there you can find all kinds of landing pages for lessons, for donating to our scholarship fund, for you know, how to join one of our bands, or just simply drop us a message all from that page, musicboxinc.com.

You can find us in Collierville at 1950 West Poplar, or you can find us in Germantown at 7516 Capital Drive.

- Well, Yelena Ovando, thank you for all you and your amazing team at Music Box do.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you Jeremy.

See you later.

[upbeat music] - As we saw in this month's episode, the organizations featured may be centered in Germantown, but they're impacting the Mid-South in much larger ways.

Germantown Community Theatre is entertaining, educating, engaging, and enriching the wider community through theatrical programming, summer camps, student productions, and inclusive theater workshops and sensory friendly performances to make sure that everyone can participate.

This welcoming environment is connecting our community and nurturing creative expression and artistic growth for youth and adults across the Mid-South.

The Germantown Education Foundation is helping to advance the academic achievement of students by mobilizing community resources to support and benefit schools, teachers and educational programs in the Germantown Municipal School District.

Supporting the public education of students in Germantown creates a ripple effect as the students grow up, graduate, give back, and start their lives and careers across the Mid-South, becoming leaders who shape the future of our broader community.

And Music Box is using the power of music to transform lives and community.

Their lessons, camps and in-person and online programs are helping aspiring musicians across the Mid-South and their support of nonprofits, free live performances, and playing music at local children's hospitals is warming hearts and bringing communities together.

It's a reminder that the things we do can have a larger impact.

So where can you help power the good and become a spark?

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 again next month.

We hope that you'll continue joining with us to create a spark for the Mid-South.

- From Higginbotham's founding in 1948, our insurance agency has been built on the values of customer service, leading with integrity, and supporting our community.

We believe in promoting the positives, encouraging engagement, and leading by example to power the good.

Higginbotham Insurance and Financial Services is honored to be the presenting sponsor of The SPARK.

[upbeat music] [acoustic guitar chords]