- This month on The SPARK our theme is "Transformation Through Service and Song".

We'll learn more about an organization finding, developing, and supporting equity-oriented leaders to transform education and expand opportunity with children, starting in the classroom, a nonprofit volunteer center engaging companies to lift our community, and a project uniting Memphis musicians in song in a worldwide humanitarian effort.

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 sp onsor of The SPARK.

- (male announcer) Ad ditional 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.

[upbeat 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 focused on transforming education and expanding opportunities for children, starting in the classroom.

We're here with the Executive Director of Teach For American Memphis, Chris Coleman.

And let's start out, give us some context around Teach For America nationally, and then locally with Teach For America Memphis.

- Yeah, thanks for having me, Jeremy.

Teach For America has been around now for over 30 years, again, we've recruited over, and supported teachers, probably over like 60 some thousand teachers that have come through our program.

Here locally, we've brought over 1,500 teachers to the city to teach us some of our most underserved schools, and so we're excited about that, the impact that we've had on the community, not only just bringing teachers, but also our teachers have formed organizations, and started other things that they've seen just through their core experience of teaching here in Memphis.

And so we just, you know, again, continue to plug in and plug away at what we're trying to be true for Memphis.

- Talk about where the teachers come from, because you're recruiting 'em all over the nation, and they're coming to Memphis, so talk about that unique model.

- You're right, Jeremy, we do recruit all across the country.

We get 'em from as west as California, to even right here, homegrown here locally.

And that's a good thing, because one thing about like coming to Memphis, we're not always the most sought out, because we're not big like New York, or you know, or small like some of our rural areas, we're kind of right there in the middle, but one thing about coming to Memphis is that, once they get here, they love to be here, they love the community feel, they love the things that they do for their children in the classrooms, in the communities that they serve.

And so, yeah, we recruit 'em from all across the country.

And again, we recruit 'em here locally.

And one thing about coming to Memphis, they love being here, and then they love staying here.

- What are some of the things that Teach For America really does to help empower and transform the leadership skills for the teachers?

- First of all, teaching is an act of leadership, and a lot of our candidates, and our core members, if you wanna call 'em core members or teachers, they don't go through traditional education programs, so we teach them how to be a teacher.

And nothing teaches you besides actually being in the classroom despite all the training.

And so we provide them coaching, one-on-one coaching, group coaching, plenty of support and development opportunities for them to be not only great people, but also great instructional leaders for their kids.

- Give us some of the statistics, the stories, qualitative, quantitative, some of those metrics that put a smile on your face.

- One, the metric I'm always proud of, Jeremy, is that with all the turnover that's happening within the teacher profession, our teachers, we retain our teachers at a 90% clip.

Like, they stay in the classroom, they complete their core commitment.

And we know things come up, and things of that nature, but that's tough, that's the toughest part for any organization, is to attract and retain their teachers.

But I'm also proud of just how our core members, not only when they complete their commitment, they go on to then say, "I saw this need in my classroom, so I'm gonna start this organization."

So if you think about like Memphis, who started an organization saying, "How can we train kids to have an entrepreneurial spirit?"

Memphis Inner City Rugby said, "Okay, most inner city kids, and especially the ones I know, look like me, they didn't grow up with access to rugby."

And now, this alum now from 2012, they're 10 years in, said, "I wanna start rugby."

And now this thing is, you may have heard of him, Memphis Inner City Rugby, it's all across.

Like, he started with one team, and now it's all across the city, he and another alum.

And so those are just some of the things.

But then we also have some alums who then go into policy, and medicine, and things of that nature, 'cause they saw the need not only to say, "Here's what my children are experiencing "from an academic standpoint, "but if I don't help solve this thing around, "maybe healthcare, or policy, "the things that are outside the classroom, then nothing's gonna change inside the classroom."

- Talk about how the community can help with retention.

- Community, when you're going through anything that's hard, Jeremy, I know you've gone through some things that are hard, but when you're going through it with someone, or a group of people, it doesn't feel as hard, right?

And so that's one thing, that's a foundational part of our program, is that we build community first.

Now, one thing about the city is that I try to find opportunities for our teachers outside of the classroom, because I know how hard they're go nna go in the classroom, but they need a brain break, they need a body break, right?

What are the things they can do outside of the classroom that can just continue to get them connected to the city?

'Cause I want them to stay, right?

What are the opportunities, like we have sometimes donors who will say, "Here are some tickets to the Memphis game.

Take 'em to the Memphis game."

Or like inviting them to these other events and activities, and things of that nature that are sometimes outside, or at the parks, and things of that nature.

All those opportunities matter, because they're gonna go hard for their kids, and a lot of times they're not from here, so they don't know, like you and I know, "Let's go do this thing.

Let's go do this thing."

What I ask of other organizations, like those type of opportunities, please send them my way so I can get those opportunities to my teachers so they can enjoy the city that you and I both love.

- Go ahead and wrap up with where we can go to learn more and get involved with Teach For America Memphis.

- Thanks, Jeremy, there's two ways.

One, you can visit our website at www.teachforamerica.org, and there's usually a dropdown box, you can find Memphis on there.

And then you can also email me at christopher.coleman, that's C-H-R-I-S-T-O-P-H-E-R, .Coleman, C-O-L-E-M-A-N, @teachforamerica.org.

- Well, Chris, thank you for all you and your amazing team do, and all of the teachers who power the good through Teach For America Memphis.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you for having me.

[upbeat music] - They're a nonprofit volunteer center, engaging companies to lift our community.

We're here with the founder and CEO of Volunteer Odyssey, our good friend Dr. Sarah Petschonek.

And let's start out, you've got some amazing statistics and evolution over the years with Volunteer Odyssey, but give us a little background, a little context for Volunteer Odyssey.

- Yeah, thank you for having me, Jeremy, it's always exciting to be able to talk to you and share with everybody what we are doing.

Volunteer Odyssey, we just celebrated our 10-year anniversary, which is amazing, and hard to believe.

We are a volunteer center based in and built for Memphis, we've engaged more than 28,000 volunteers in 460,000 hours of service, which is an economic impact to the Memphis area of more than $12 million.

And of course, we haven't done that alone, cityCurrent's been an amazing partner, and we're just really excited to share more about how you can get involved this year.

- And so carry that forward into how you can get involved, because you make it very easy, but you also make it very meaningful, and I think that's kind of that perfect blend, is it's easy, but it's also meaningful.

So talk about how easy you make it.

- That's a great question, Jeremy.

A lot of people don't volunteer simply because they don't know where to start, or because they're afraid that they might not have a good experience when they go, so we solve both of those things.

We work with a very selective list of nonprofit partners, and those collaborators share our values of providing a great volunteer experience, but also providing a high impact experience.

We really focus on those high quality, high impact volunteer experiences.

We have a calendar, where you can see all of the cu rrent volunteer opportunities for the month, and you can see and instantly sign up for something where you can make a huge difference.

Whether you have 1 hour or you have 10 hours, we have everything in between, and we desperately need more volunteers right now.

- You are a champion for volunteerism, and one of the things that you always point out is the importance around inviting others to participate.

Talk about why that's so important.

- It's crucial, because most people say they would volunteer if someone just invited them.

What an amazing thing, what a simple thing, and what a human thing, right?

Somebody I trust says, "Hey, please come with me, this is a great way to make a difference."

So, for anybody listening, sometimes people won't talk about it because they feel like it's bragging, but our message, our spin on that, is you're an ambassador for that nonprofit, and what they really need you to do is bring in more volunteers.

So next time you have the opportunity, please say something like, "I've been volunteering here, would you please come with me?"

Or ask your friends, "Where are you volunteering, and could I come and help?"

- You yourself, also heavily volunteer, including overseas, and so share a little bit of some of the important takeaways for you volunteering overseas in Poland as a part of relief efforts tied to the war in Ukraine.

- Yeah, it was a really incredible experience, and I think there are two big things that I learned.

I think one is, so we were working specifically with Ukrainian refugees on this project in Krakow, and one of the big things I think I learned that really hit home for me is that it's not necessarily about what you are doing as the volunteer, it is about these amazing communities that you're meeting, and these people who are strong, and so resilient, and just these incredible people.

And your role is really to, you know, provide a format for them to regain their own control and power over their own life and situation.

And that was something that I just thought was really incredible, I hadn't really heard it explained that way before.

The other piece of that is thinking about this, almost this juxtaposition between efficiency and humanity.

And so if you picture, you know, an assembly line, or a soup kitchen, you know, where you can feed a whole bunch of people really quickly, you don't have an opportunity to necessarily connect with people.

So, sometimes the priority is efficiency.

In a disaster response situation, you wanna get as many water to as many people as possible.

But if it's something where you're really trying to build bonds and connections, you want that freedom and that flexibility to have time to get to really know people, and their stories, and build those relationships.

- You're taking all of these lessons, and you're applying them now, especially in the lens of a corporate focus, a corporate compass, talk about Corporate Compass.

- Yeah, I'm really excited to be talking about Corporate Compass, and I just thank you to cityCurrent and Higginbotham for all of your help with this, because it's a big thing to launch a new project.

One of the things that we know from working with our local nonprofits is that sometimes they get really overwhelmed when there is a big corporate group that wants to come out.

Those can be very helpful, that has their place, but what the nonprofits have told us is that we really need people, small groups, individuals, all year round.

So if you can go for one afternoon with your whole team, that's great, but if your department could, say, come every Monday morning, you know, for six months, that is huge, it's that kind of consistency, having people come as individuals in these small groups, that really is a game changer for these nonprofits.

Corporate Compass is not focused on the big group events, and again, there's a place for that, and there's a purpose for that, but this is how do we get individuals in your company connected with something that's important to them where they can continue to go and make a difference.

- So where do we go to learn more about Volunteer Odyssey, Corporate Compass, getting involved in our community, where do we go?

- Yeah, we would love for you to visit us at volunteerodyssey.com, but especially our social media, we're on LinkedIn, we're on Facebook, we're on Instagram, and of course, through here, we're doing lots of fun things with cityCurrent, we'll be sharing more at the upcoming breakfast this year, and we just desperately need people to get involved.

So if you're thinking about getting started, you can also contact me directly, Sarah, S-A-R-A-H, @volunteerodyssey.com.

- Well, Dr. Sarah Petschonek, thank you for all you and your amazing team do at Volunteer Odyssey.

Thank you for lifting our city, empowering the good.

Thank you for being a guest on the show.

- Absolutely, thank you for having me, Jeremy.

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

The 2023 Individual Adult Award went to Janet Boscarino.

[uplifting music] - Hi, I'm Janet Boscarino.

I've been in Memphis since 1986, I guess, so, a long time.

Love the city, spent about 20 years in business development, and then really wanted to find a way to give back to the city, and so, in 2008, I worked with a few other partners to launch Clean Memphis, an environmental nonprofit organization.

We've been around 15 years now, and that's grown into now a really, what I would consider, impactful organization, no longer at a grassroots level, but really advancing some initiatives in the city that are really important.

I'm really proud of that work.

One of the things that, you know, everyone was concerned about, and still concerned about, is litter.

And what we found is that it is really hard to change behaviors of adults, and it's more important for us, or we have more success, if we can target children at a young age, and really incorporate environmental education in the early days of their education, and throughout their education life cycle.

And when we bring environmental education, STEM education to students, it gives them a way to engage in real life experiences in their environment, and gives them agency to make change.

And so there's a lot of research around how environmental STEM education improves critical thinking, just student outcomes across the board, including their own self-esteem.

So, it's really a big focus for us, I'm really proud of our education team and the work that we're doing there.

So, in 2015, we merged, or brought Project Green Fork under our umbrella of Clean Memphis, and Project Green Fork's a fabulous program that has worked with restaurants since 2008 to build more sustainable practices in restaurants.

Many people do not know that, across the country every year, we spend $230 billion growing and transporting food that never is eaten, it's wasted.

Almost 40% of our food is wasted in the U.S., meanwhile we have one-in-six people that are food insecure, and that's more like one-in-four in Memphis and Shelby County.

And last year alone, we rescued and connected more than 16,000 pounds of food.

This year, we have spent more time engaging new organizations, we just helped Mempho in October make sure that they were donating, had a food donation partner, and we're working with Memphis-Shelby County Schools as well.

We've done food waste audits with the students there to better understand why they're no t eating a certain thing, and working really closely with them to implement waste reduction strategies, and making sure good food gets to people who can use it, and it's not being wasted.

I think Memphis is a wonderful city with many opportunities for people to plug in, and I think when you come to the table with a willing heart, everyone is gonna welcome you, whatever your idea is, whatever your passion is, they're gonna find a way to, you know, put you into the game and get you going.

There's so many areas, whether you want to be part of something big, or you wanna be something that's one-on-one as an in dividual, tutoring, mentoring, or being something, serving on a board.

There's just so many opportunities, and there's so much need, we welcome volunteers all the time, whether it's at a project, or at a board position, or advisory.

There's just so much need that I would encourage anyone.

You will be welcomed, you'll get the resources that you need, and you will be rewarded for sure.

[uplifting music] - It is a project uniting Memphis musicians in song, and a worldwide humanitarian effort.

We're here with Mario Monterosso, producer of "The Simple Song of Freedom" Project.

And let's start out, before we talk about the project, you coming all the way over from Italy and moving to Memphis, what brought you to Memphis, buddy?

- Yes, sir.

Well, thanks for for having me, and hi, everybody.

Well, it was Memphis music, to get me here.

Now it's been eight years already.

I grew up with Memphis music, so I've been listening to Memphis music for my entire life, you know, especially growing up in Europe, there was a huge rockabilly rock-and-roll revival early in the '80s, so I got into that genre, thank God, it was my first imprinting, and it remained for all of my life.

And started to play, my sister had a rockabilly boyfriend who was a musician, so I fell into this kind of music.

And at one point, I started to work with a Memphis artist, Tav Falco and his Panther Burns, I met him in Rome, and I became his producer.

So after doing the first tour with him in 2015, I decided to change my life, and move here in Memphis, Tennessee.

- Let's dive into this project, because it comes from the "Simple Song of Freedom," and you were inspired by watching a movie, so talk about the inspiration for this project.

- Yeah, actually, I was watching a movie entitled, "Beyond the Sea", and it's a movie about Bobby Darin's life.

And you know, Bobby Darin is very well known for the big hits, "Splish Splash", "Mack The Knife", "Beyond the Sea", you know, mainly as a crooner, or a rock and roller.

So, watching the movie, I got to know that he had a kind of hippy phase of life, and that, mid '60s, you know, the world was changing, and he wrote beautiful songs with a very intense lyrics.

Among those, there's "Simple Song of Freedom" that he wrote in 1969 for the war in Vietnam, Vietnam War.

So, I have to say that, sadly, the lyrics of the song are still very appropriate for the situation that we are living nowadays with all the wars around the world, you know, starting with the one in Ukraine, and Israel, I mean, there are several countries hit by the war.

So, I had this idea to produce the song, and film the whole session using the same concept of "We Are the World".

So, this is to send a message, you know, coming from Memphis, Tennessee, that still, today, is the capital of music.

You know, people around the world still see Memphis as a capital of music.

- So, talk about putting all the puzzle pieces together, because you've got some big names who are a part of this content.

- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I wanted to have a big puzzle.

So my idea, my vision, was having a lot of musicians, Memphis musicians, a lot of singers, so, each one giving a little something.

So, I started with a written session involving, you know, people I know, and then I started to have the idea about having a big choir, and then I started to think about the lead singers.

And, thank God, I fell in with very, very incredible names, like Larry Dotson from the Barkays, Miss Carla Thomas.

Two guys from The Coasters.

You know?

The Coasters.

And another guy, he's a young guy, British guy, his name is Pete Molinari, he's based in Los Angeles.

And then I had Priscilla Presley involved reading a statement at the end of the video, is Mother Teresa's statement.

And I have the soprano, International Soprano, Kallen Esperian, she lives in Memphis, Tennessee.

So it's a huge variety of artists.

- There's also a give back element to this song, and so proceeds benefit the Novick Cardiac Alliance.

Talk about the give back element.

- Yes, exactly, because, you know, I wanted, of course, sending a message around the world about peace and love.

And at the same time, you know, I wanted that this discographic thing could be able to send some money to children, and all those families hit by the war.

So the Novick Cardiac Alliance is perfect, and somehow matches with the "Simple Song of Freedom", because Bobby Darin died because of some problems of the heart, and so Bobby Darin estate, who approved my project, was pretty happy about the whole concept.

- Talk about where we can listen to the song, be a part of it.

How can the community get involved?

- So, the song, the audio song is available on all digital platforms, and, you know, the song has been released through the MVP3 record label run by Marie Pizano, and distribution is by the Select-O-Hits run by Johnny Phillips.

That makes sense to me, because he's related to the Sam Phillips family, and the project has been recorded at Sam Phillips Studio so that it's perfect.

And the video is available on YouTube, so you can search for "Simple Song of Freedom", and I give a name to the band, that is Memphis Freedom Band.

So you search "Simple Song of Freedom", Memphis Freedom Band, and you'll easily find it.

- I think that's the cool storyline here, is when you look at, obviously, the Memphis story once again impacting the world, that is "The Simple Song of Freedom" project.

So, Mario, thank you for all you do, buddy, thanks for doing the show.

- Thank you so much.

Thanks a lot.

[upbeat music] - We live in a world of constant change, and yet when it comes to lifting our communities and improving the lives of our neighbors around us, it still comes back to the fundamentals of caring and service.

Yes, money is a needed resource to fund the mission and efforts of nonprofits, but if I pull out a dollar bill and hold it in my hand, it just sits there, it doesn't parent or mentor a child, teach or tutor them, and help them succeed.

It doesn't fix a leaky roof for a senior citizen who wants to remain independent or feed someone in need, people do.

People physically solve problems and drive transformation in the community and in the lives of others.

That's why we're fortunate to have Teach For America Memphis working to find, develop, and support equity-oriented leaders to help them adapt to changing dynamics in education, and connect them to community so they can transform classrooms and students through their service.

We're fortunate to have Volunteer Odyssey, serving as a volunteer center, and engaging companies in meaningful volunteer opportunities through their Corporate Compass so many hands can work together to lift our city.

Then the "Simple Song of Freedom" Project is physically engaging Memphis musicians in song, and a worldwide humanitarian effort that gives back to support the Novick Cardiac Alliance.

It shows you that we can create transformation through service and song, because it starts with a spark of caring, and getting physically involved.

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'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 sp onsor of The SPARK.

[upbeat music] [acoustic guitar chords]