New Sensory-based Playground to Open Soon at STAR Academy Charter School

 

Dr. Edward Stephens III leads the rollout of a new sensory-based
playground at STAR Academy Charter School on the campus
of Golden Gate Cathedral (Courtesy photo)

MEMPHIS, TN – A 4,400 sq. ft. sensory-based playground aptly named Imagination Station will soon become a reality for students in grades K-6 at STAR Academy Charter School, 3260 James Rd., in the Raleigh community.

The $400,000 project officially kicked off Oct. 5 with a groundbreaking on the campus of Golden Gate Cathedral, 3240 James Rd., where the single-site charter school is located. 

Founded in 2004 by Bishop Edward H. Stephens Jr., GGC’s senior pastor, the charter school operates under the auspices of the Golden Gate Development Corporation, a non-profit organization. 

Dr. Edward Stephens III, the pastor’s eldest son, is STAR Academy’s chief operating officer. He is resolute and committed to providing resources for children to stimulate their minds.

“Children must have an outlet,” Dr. Stephens said. “If you can figure out a way to give them that outlet and infuse STEM technology, electronics, [and] play all in the same space, you’ve done something special.”

Standard playgrounds, where young children romp around and expend energy, are being replaced in some schools and parks in other cities for sensory playground equipment.

Hence, the inspiration for Imagination Station was derived from the aforementioned schools and parks in other cities, Dr. Stephens said.

According to a statement from STAR Academy, these sensory-based, fun, and safe spaces utilize equipment, technology, and gadgets to stimulate all senses, promoting curiosity, discovery, and creativity. 

In addition, sensory play promotes such skills as cognitive recall, problem solving, prolonged attention span, and stimulates everything from critical thinking and confidence building to social and emotional skills.  

“It should stimulate all the senses while promoting curiosity, discovery, and creativity,” Dr. Stephens emphasized. “That’s where the name comes from – Imagination Station. That’s the benefit of a sensory-based playground.”

Imagination Station was set to become a reality before the pandemic. But the plan was scrapped, Dr. Stephens said. “We were initially about to strike, but obviously covid hit. So, we bracketed and suspended the effort. Then we recently revived it.”

Dr. Stephens pointed out that the sensory-based playground is just one of several strategic investments the school will make over the next few years. 

“There’s a huge push in literacy right now,” Dr. Stephens said. “We’re looking at pre-K and erecting a state-of-the-art facility, which will be a natural feeder for STAR (Academy). So, pre-K will allow us to serve families, literally, from the cradle up to six-grade.”

Dr. Stephens noted the importance of “equity and access.” They are pillars that could be added to STAR’s mission, which is “to be an educational incubator that promotes critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity, and cultural competency in a safe, nurturing, and innovative environment.” 

The chief operating officer also is looking at ways to build sustainable families with healthy eco-systems. “Instead of looking at the student/scholar singly, we’re looking at strengthening the family-unit as a whole,” he said.

Imagination Station could be described by the leadership and teachers at STAR Academy as a “tip of the spear” in their effort to educate more than 300 students from five to 11 years old.

Dr. Stephens made a final point: “We want to make sure our children have the same resources as children on the other side of town,” including students grappling with “mental health disparities…and children living on the edge.”

He expects Imagination Station to pay dividends down the road in terms of educating the student/scholar with all the resources STAR Academy can muster.

Mariah Michelle: ‘Music is My Testimony’

"Black Diamond," the EP. (Photo by Doug Bedford)

If you listen to “Free From Me” on the EP “Black Diamond,” you’ll learn a lot about Mariah Michelle Stokes. She is a young, rising soloist striking a familiar chord that young women like her would understand. 

“I’m very emotional and vulnerable,” said Stokes, 22, who uses “Mariah Michelle” as her stage name. “I wrote that song when I was depressed during a very dark time in my life.”  

What resulted from that somber experience was Mariah Michelle’s heartfelt testimony that she set to music. “I went through some things in life and I felt like music is my testimony,” she said. 

With rock-solid confidence now, Mariah Michelle hopes to inspire people, young or otherwise, via “Black Diamond,” a compilation of five R&B/soul selections with message-laden lyrics that inspire and motivate.

Mariah Michelle was front and center
at the Juneteenth Urban Music Festival
last year at the historic Robert R. Church
Park in downtown Memphis. (Photo
by Wiley Henry)

“Black Diamond” is the title track. The others are “Go Get It,” “Be Loved,” “Break,” and, of course, “Free From Me.” The songs are produced by Ja’Mar Productions.  

“All the songs have a message,” she said. “Black Diamond celebrates us. It’s a celebratory song about black people, about tearing down all stereotypes.” The remaining songs on the EP are just as compelling, she added.

Consider the chorus in “Black Diamond:” “You’re a black diamond, you gon shine forever/ They try to tie us down, but we gon reign forever/ When you black and you proud, it just don’t get no better/ All the mess we overcame, we on another level.”

While Mariah Michelle radiates confidence and touts the finished product as good – which took over a year to complete – her journey to creative expression could have ended before it began.

At the onset of her life, not long after awakening into the world, Mariah Michelle was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease called alopecia areata, which attacks hair follicles.

Completely bald now, the image that she showcases on stage and in her daily life is bold, alluring, and self-assuring. People gaze upon her baldness in admiration and surmise that it is fate that God has ordered.

 “Black Diamond” is Mariah Michelle’s foray into the music industry. But like many black singers, whatever the genre they inevitably end up singing, the church was their springboard. It’s no different for Mariah Michelle.

“We still got to walk by faith. Sometimes in the music industry it takes a while [to get noticed],” Mitchell Stokes, her father and manager, said. He plays lead guitar for his home church, Golden Gate Cathedral, and for The Soul Shockers, an R&B group.

Mariah Michelle is a praise dancer and sings in the church choir. The message that she conveys in her music is tantamount to the message that comes forth when she sings God’s praises.

“My music is clear and inspirational,” she said, denouncing music about money, sex and drugs for music that uplifts and makes a positive statement.

“She has a gift and she’s anointed to do what she’s doing,” Mitchell Stokes said. “We want her to continue to grow in Christ, continue to love herself, and continue go after her dreams.”

Her mother, Sandra Stokes, embraces the objective of ensuring that Mariah Michelle is grounded and rooted in faith. She and her husband believe that all things are possible, considering the unpredictability of the music industry. 

“I’m just the prayer warrior,” Sandra Stokes said. “I don’t know about music. I just try to keep her committed and connected to Christ.” 

Mariah Michelle initially didn’t want to sing professionally, her father said. But then something happened. Someone had seen a video on social media of Mitchell Stokes’ little girl singing and contacted him.

“She has always sung,” he said. “Our family is musically-inclined. It’s inside of her.”

Mariah Michelle added her spin: “Music is in my genes. It’s a natural gift.”

Although music is her passion, “in my genes,” education is underscored. This year, Mariah Michelle will graduate from the University of Memphis with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Why psychology?

“I’ve always been interested in the way people think, the way the brain works, and how people behave,” she explained.

Until she walks across the stage with her degree in hand, she’ll continue to sashay across the stage at other venues, where she’ll sing songs that accentuate the positive and evoke thought. 

A song on the EP, “Go Get It,” released on Nov. 29, is reflective of Mariah Michelle’s endeavor to go after what she wants in life with a clean-cut message that sets her apart from her contemporaries.

“…I’m gon do my own thing and go get it/ Go get it and unleash the champion/ Go get it…” she sings. “Whatever you want, go get it/ What you been hoping for, go get it.”

“Go Get It” is streaming on all major platforms, such as Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, Apple Music, and Google Play. “Black Diamond,” the EP, is $5. For more information, email info@moriahmichelle.com, or call 901-338-7028.

Rhonda Myers tells a riveting story about her struggle with cancer

After listening to a riveting testimony on how cancer has ravaged Rhonda Myers'
body, Bishop Edward H. Stephens Jr., senior pastor of Golden Gate Cathedral, and prayer
warriors prayed for her healing and peace of mind. (Photo by Wiley Henry)

Five minutes into Rhonda Myers’ 20-minute testimony, tears started flowing in the room. She could barely get through the story without dabbing at the tears in her own eyes.

Each riveting detail gave the more than 120 women and a couple of men attending the annual Golden Gate Cathedral’s Breast Cancer Survivors’ Brunch on Oct. 20 all the reason to weep. And many of them did.

The majority of the women and one man in attendance are breast cancer survivors. They apparently felt Myers’ pain, her struggle, and her will to survive as she recounted how cancer has taken its toll on her body.

“I was scared at first. My words aren’t always correct. That’s why I had to write everything down on paper,” said Myers, 51, reluctant at first to take on the role of keynote speaker. 

“I wanted women to see how she has persevered. Women need to know how she has endured what she’s gone through,” said Anita Holloway, Golden Gate’s health ministry coordinator.

Holloway had asked Myers to let the Lord use her while telling her story.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to the nonprofit Breastcancer.org, an estimated 266,120 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women this year in the U.S., along with 63,960 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.

Men are at risk too. About 2,550 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men this year.

For more than 10 years, Holloway has coordinated the church’s Breast Cancer Survivors’ Brunch “to uplift and support women, to inspire each other with their stories, including those who have not gone through with breast cancer.”

“She (Myers) has a story to tell, and she has not given up,” said Holloway, moved to tears herself. After Myers finished speaking, she removed her wig to show other survivors that she is not defeated. Holloway sent up a prayer afterward.

Myers had participated in the survivors’ brunch the last two years, but not as a speaker. “This is the first time at the brunch where people wanted to hug me and kiss me,” she said. “I noticed that a lot of people were crying.”

Myers was first diagnosed with left breast cancer in October of 2012, five months after moving to Memphis from her native New Orleans to take a job as a certified nursing assistant at Spring Gate Rehabilitation Center.

Holloway is the supervisor on the night shift. Myers worked the three to 11 shift, but could no longer keep the job because of her failing health. “I had to quit after having the surgery,” she said

Myers was 45 years old then, the mother of three sons. One of them is deceased. After surgery, chemotherapy and radiation followed. During this time, her mother was sick back in New Orleans. She brought her to Memphis. She died two years ago.

 In July of 2013, doctors performed a mastectomy on Myers’ left breast. They discovered lesions under her left armpit. They also found a lump on her right breast. “I didn’t want them to do both breasts,” said Myers, eventually consenting to a lumpectomy.

At this point in Myers’ story, the roomful of breast cancer survivors was listening attentively to the speaker’s poignant message, as if some other malady would be revealed.

Her story continued to unfold; she wasn’t done yet. While undergoing treatment for breast cancer, “my back started hurting,” said Myers, who thought the pain had come as a result of the cancer treatment.

The intense pain drove Myers to Campbell Clinic, where doctors discovered that cancer had invaded her bones. “I had it in my lumbar area, clavicle, and a part of my lungs,” she said.

Not long after receiving the doctors’ dour bone cancer report, Myers started experiencing excruciating headaches. Again, she sought out a doctor. “I went to Germantown Hospital and had an ultrasound done,” she said.

The doctors found four times the amount of lesions in Myers’ brain. In a relative short number of years, cancer laid waste to most her body. It had attacked both of her breasts, her bones, and twice her brain. She’s being treated now at The West Cancer Clinic.

Myers said her words don’t always connect like she wants them to. It didn’t matter to the survivors. They understood her pain – and it gave them a reason to fight just as hard to survive.

Corinthian Hope House set to open for women and children affected by domestic violence

The love of God that Gwendolyn Turner espouses in church helps to heal the emotional scars left behind by a man she was in a relationship with for a number of years. But not all victims of domestic violence are fortunate as Turner, who found refuge in the church and support from family and friends.

“I tell people all the time that I’m a bold and beautiful survivor of domestic violence,” said Turner. “So my heart goes out to those who have no support system, nobody behind them that can say, ‘You can do this. You can start again. You can live, love and laugh again.’”

Gwendolyn Turner was a victim of domestic
violence. Now she's opening the doors to
Corinthian Hope House to help victims
seeking refuge from the perpetrator.

The members of Golden Gate Cathedral, where Turner worships, had heard her story before, so had friends, preachers, entertainers and radio personalities who gathered Oct. 24 at the Hard Rock Café on Beale Street to support Turner’s Domestic Violence Benefit in advance of the opening of Corinthian Hope House, a home for women and children affected by domestic violence.

Most people who know Turner are aware of her public persona as a songbird and one of the founders of the original Angelic Voices of Faith, a community choir known around the contemporary gospel circuit as Billy Rivers and The Angelic Voices of Faith.

Turner had no problem soliciting help from the AVOF and others, including the incomparable Melvia “Chick” Rodgers, who breathed life into the lyrics of her songs. The evening, however, was devoted to Turner and her mission and ministry.

 “I always knew that what was once my life’s misery would be my mission and my ministry,” said Turner, who hopes the Corinthian Hope House will help victims get back on their feet. “I’m very passionate about it, because I’ve been in that place.”

A process will be in place for victims seeking refuge or a getaway to Corinthian, Turner said. “It will be long-term housing. The first thing we’ll do is do an intake on the victim to see exactly where they are. The second step is a safety plan.”

Domestic Violence Awareness Month was observed in October. However, the number of assaults is serious enough that warrants attention to domestic violence year-round. Turner has sounded the alarm since fleeing her perpetrator.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, a little more than 232,000 incidents were reported to law enforcement in the state of Tennessee between 2013 and 2015. Roughly 68 percent of that number, the report concluded, were simple assaults, which included slaps, punches or kicks.

“Some victims grew up in domestic violence situations,” said Turner. “I never saw domestic violence. My downfall was I did not know the red flags…the warning signs of domestic violence. It was a while before I knew that I was a victim.”

About seven years into the relationship, she added.

Two hundred seventy six domestic violence victims were murdered, the three-year TBI study pointed out. Turner was fortunate enough to escape what could have resulted in physical abuse: slaps, punches, kicks and, in some cases, death.

Women are three-times likely to be victimized than men, the TBI noted. In some cases, children suffer emotional unrest, or a similar fate, if they witness domestic violence in the home by the person purporting to love the victim.

“We need more places where we can house these women and children who’ve gone through this traumatic experience,” said Turner. “The difference in what we’re trying to do is not only house them but connect them with resources that they won’t have to go back to those relationships.” 

Difficult childhood drives Telisa Franklin to succeed in business despite a few recurring obstacles

Telisa Franklin is realizing some of her dreams after a difficult childhood forced her to grow up quickly. 

When Telisa Franklin and a team of volunteers fed more than 500 people in 2012 during the Thanksgiving holiday, the upper echelon of Memphis, the community at-large, and the news media took notice of the work that Franklin had been doing to feed the needy since 2008. Feeding the needy, she said, is her way of giving back to a community that is beset by one hardship after another, a community she knows so well.  

Hundreds of people on any given day in Memphis go hungry and as many of them don’t have a place to call home. Franklin is passionate about helping those who’re less fortunate and feels compelled to lend them a hand. Why? She grew up in a home in the Douglass community that reminds her of the daily grind to survive.

She was raised in an environment where crack addiction was all too common. Her father was brutally murdered, and her grandparents, who did not graduate from school, did their best to provide for her and protect her after they became her guardians.

“My grandparents saved me from becoming a statistic and a prey to the evildoers in my environment who sought to destroy me,” Franklin said.

Despite having to overcome those extreme difficulties, Franklin would go on to achieve some of her goals. But the path she’d traveled to get to where she is today was meandering -- not a straight path, that is before the viccitudes of her life convinced her to take a faith walk.

She’d incurred hardships both as a child and as an adult, but her determination to succeed, despite the odds against her, was much stronger than the negative forces that tried to snuff out her dreams before they could come true.

A 1993 graduate of Craigmont High School, Franklin acquired innate skills that didn’t come from academia. In fact, it was her fluency of speech, radiant personality and her bulldog determination that keeps her focused on obtaining the brass ring of success. She credits much of what she’s been able to accomplish thus far to her grandfather, a Baptist preacher, and her unwavering faith in God. 

“If it weren’t for my grandfather teaching me to choose God first, to work hard, I am not sure where I would be or what I would be doing now,” said Franklin, who chose to fight (figuratively speaking) to survive rather than give up like so many others had done in similar circumstances.

Although Franklin’s childhood memories are bittersweet, the experience only fueled her desire to overcome her wretched circumstances. But dreams do come true, and this determined warrior from Douglass is now seeing some of them come to fruition after years of toiling.

          After trial and error and a few hopes and dreams dashed along the way, the circumstances didn’t stop Franklin from reaching within and discovering what she is really made of: strength, character, fortitude, integrity and the uncanny ability to overcome obstacles.

Although the aforementioned attributes were pillars that she leaned on to survive a difficult childhood, they have essentially become the hallmarks of her success as an entrepreneur, floral designer, motivational speaker, philanthropist, TV talk show host, radio host, author, minister and now the owner of her own TV network.

On Aug. 11, Franklin officially launched her TV network on Comcast Channel 31 seven days a week. It is arguably the first female-owned African-American network based in Memphis that serves African-Americans in the coverage area of Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi, according to Franklin, president of TFC Media.

A Christian-based radio, television and social media platform, TFC Media is Franklin’s foray into communications, having owned and operated several businesses that eventually gave birth to her newest venture, cable TV.

“I have devoted time and energy to making my businesses successful,” Franklin said. “The network on Comcast Channel 31, which entrepreneurs and business owners can utilize to fulfill their dreams, is another project, or business, that I hope would bring those involved on the ground floor a measure of success.”    

Franklin and her team have since worked long hours to create an impact in the communications industry.

          “I’m determined to be somebody and leave an inheritance for my children’s children. That’s what the Bible instructs us to do,” said Franklin, who doesn’t mind being called a role model. “When I see young people looking like I looked as a child, where I had been earlier in my life, I don’t want them to see me give up. I want them to be able to see a good image in me.”

           As an entrepreneur, Franklin has owned several businesses prior to the launch of her cable television network – including “That’s Love Florist,” “That’s Love” and the “Royal Pavilion Event” facilities. In 2005, she was the recipient of “Bust-A-Move Monday” (BAMM), an initiative launched in June of 2001 by Dr. Kenneth T. Whalum, senior pastor of Olivet Baptist Church, to spend money with African-American businesses.

           Over the course of her professional career, Franklin has either owned a business, operated one, or worked in various capacities for a couple of banks, a car dealership and a videographer. In 2012, Glenn Johns Reed, founder of the long-running Juneteenth Freedom and Heritage Festival in Douglass Park, tapped Franklin to succeed her as the festival’s executive director.

            Franklin has an affinity for young people. She motivates them to dream big and to work hard, just like she’d done from 2004 to 2008 as producer of the “Prom Show Expo,” a trade show that exposed high school students to school proms, graduation, college and career training.

            “I believe children should have an opportunity to be successful in life, but the leaders of today must prepare them for their destiny,” said Franklin, who organized a Christian youth group in 2008 called Memphis Youthful Praise of Douglass, which promoted positive activity for the youth and young adults in the community.  

Despite her rigorous schedule, Franklin attends Golden Gate Cathedral on James Road where she is a licensed minister and evangelist.

          The church has become an inextricable part of Franklin’s life. She’d been a secretary and Sunday school teacher at Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church; a youth leader, choir director, and praise and worship leader at Willing Souls Missionary Baptist Church; and a leadership coordinator and a media ministry coordinator at Greater New Liberty Missionary Baptist Church.  

          So what is Franklin’s ultimate goal? “I want to be able to make senior citizens’ dreams come true,” she said. “They don’t have enough money to do what they want to do. I want to build a home for them. It will be like a permanent retreat.”

She added that while children have opportunities to be successful, “older people are thrown away. They’re sometimes forgotten.” Oh, and she also hopes to grow her TV network into a mega communications outlet

Franklin didn’t forget about her three younger brothers. Although she struggled in her early years to survive, did not pursue higher education, worked tirelessly to make ends meet, she didn’t want her brothers to follow in her footsteps. So she paid for them to go to college.

One of her brothers is a student at Mississippi Valley State working on a master’s degree in criminal justice. Another one is a professional over the road commercial driver. The youngest is a student as well at Mississippi Valley State working on a bachelor’s degree.

“My brothers all know that failure is not an option,” said Franklin, the mother of a 6-year-old son, Charles Edward. “I just want them to succeed in life. That’s why I stepped in to provide a foundation from which to launch a successful career.”