Whether in The Voice or in VOiCE, Dreams Can Come True

I am addicted to The Voice, and, yes, I cry nearly every single episode. I can’t help it. Watching dreams collide with hard work is too much for me to take. It’s okay, you can make fun of me. My kids certainly do, every time.

Even though I didn’t name VOiCE after The Voice, I see them as similar. They both resonate down deep in a place where your perspective and your take on things actually matter. Check that. Your perspective, your take on things are actually sought out. It’s the moment in time when you realize your voice matters.

In 2009, a group of students told me that, essentially, all the things we were doing to build them up were being ruined by the media. “The only people we see in the news who look like us are in mug shots,” one girl said. Now, that’s not a new complaint but what was new to me was the fact that it was undoing what we were trying to do. Really, could it be that the front page and the opening minutes of the six o’clock news has the power to diminish the encouragement we pour into people? 

The answer is regrettably but quite simply, yes. In fact, the disproportionate amount of minority mugshots in the media not only impacts individuals but also perceptions of others. It seems that we think less of each other if we don’t look alike, begging the question, do we think less of each other even when we look alike? Our students showed me that, yes, people simply can’t fight the suspicions of strangers especially when coupled with the media seemingly perpetuating those doubts.

Well that struck me in a way I can’t describe. My organization, The Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida’s Graduates was already maxed out with the three programs we offered at the time. There was our marquee program, Jobs for Florida’s Graduates, which is the state affiliate for Jobs for America’s Graduates. We were also just incubating Students United with Parents and Educators to Resolve Bullying (SUPERB) and Girls Get I.T. We didn’t have the capacity to take on one more thing.

But VOiCE, as it would later be known, spoke to me. How could I let our core belief that “your past doesn’t have to dictate your future” be undone by the “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality?

Currently minorities make up 37.02 percent of the U.S. population; that number will increase to 42.39 percent by 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Yet, the American Society of News Editors reports that newsrooms “continue to be about two-thirds male … and …12.37 percent of minority. 

While we didn’t build VOiCE to encourage students to go into journalism, we did create it as a place where art and technology collide in a way that students may feel the power of their stories, their culture, their voice without regard to what the media was choosing as its lead story. What we discovered was that when art collides with technology, some of the most powerful stories of resilience and courage emerge. 

And when you have those stories, leading with mugshots is just … well … just meaningless. 

palatka

Foundation officially opens new Madison Street facility

A new center for educational opportunity is now open on Palatka’s Northside. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Tuesday afternoon for the new Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida’s Graduates at 1100 Madison St.

“The first day I started here, I knew it was going to be a blessing,” said Kamarre Anders, a student in the center’s first graduating class.

Anders joined fellow his classmates Shon’Tavia Cooper, Antwan Johnson-Tobler, Lucious Jackson, Donell Johnson and Azurnisha Ulysse in helping state Rep. Travis Hutson cut the ceremonial ribbon at the center Tuesday.

“I know you all are used to being introduced as the dignitaries,” said Heather Beaven, CEO of Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida’s Graduates, as she spoke to a crowd of local officials. “These six students are the dignitaries today.”

Beaven said the Palatka center is the only stand-alone facility for the foundation, which was shaped in 2003. She said a group of students from the foundation’s Jobs for Florida Graduates program at Palatka High School sought out the property at the corner of 11th and Madison streets six years ago.

“Those students tracked down the owner of the property through the property appraiser’s website and asked the owner if they would be interested in donating it,” she said. “The students did all of that.”

Last year, construction began at the site as Mobile Modulars donated the two modular buildings that would be used as classrooms for each of the foundation’s four programs.

The six students in the first class of Jobs for Florida Graduates at the center are expected to earn their Facility Maintenance Certification in March, as they helped build the deck and ramp and place furniture.

The group plans to also place all of the landscaping and fencing on the property under the instruction of James Bontempo, Facilities Maintenance Instructor for HBI.

“I haven’t done anything like this before,” Anders said. “I feel accomplished.”

Hutson, R-Elkton, who grew up in Elkton, said he supported programs like Jobs for Florida Graduates because a lot of people find that they can excel in postsecondary education.

“High school and college only gets you so far and some people just aren’t made for it,” he said. “That’s why I believe in these programs.”

Tobler said he thinks the new center was placed in the perfect location to draw interest from Palatka residents who are looking to expand their educations. “They come by and see us working out here,” he said. “I think it will really help the community.”

Johnson said he’s already seen an impact since he’s been a part of the 11-week program. “There will be a lot of people in the next class,” he said. The Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida’s Graduates in Palatka offers the Jobs for Florida Graduates 11-week program to applicants ages 18-21.

Programs available for middle school and high school-age students include a “Girls get IT” STEM program, “Superb” anti-bullying program and “VOiCE” art and technology program. Applications are available at the center. For more information about the foundation, visit flgraduates.org.
aaikins@palatkadailynews.com

This article originally appeared on the Palatka Daily News.