Panthers, NFL Foundation Give $200K Grant to Refurbish West Charlotte H.S. Football Field

Now, for a little bit of good news involving the NFL. A press conference was held this morning at West Charlotte High School to announce that the school will receive a new synthetic turf football field, as the result of a $200,000 grant from the Carolina Panthers through the NFL Foundation Grassroots Program. The program has helped build or renovate 290 football fields in underserved neighborhoods around the country since 1998.

This is just the latest form of community, corporate, and financial support West Charlotte High has received as numerous efforts are underway to help turnaround this once-reputable school that saw its academics and student population's well-being plummet in recent years. Project L.I.F.T. (Leadership and Investment For Transformation ) has led or coordinated many of these efforts at the high school as well as its eight feeder schools (elementary and middle), all located in Charlotte's westside.

Photos by Jarvis Holliday

There was a lot of positive energy at the press conference this morning. Of course there were officials representing Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the Panthers, and sponsors, including CMS' Superintendent Heath Morrison and Duke Energy Foundation president Richard "Stick" Williams, but what thrilled me the most was to see the involvement of students in the ceremony. This, after all, is who the initiative will positively impact the most, and it gives them another reason to be proud of their school and to believe that the community cares. Members of the West Charlotte High marching band played, the cheerleaders cheered, and several of the football players were there. There was also a group of student journalists conducting interviews.

West Charlotte student journalists. 

Sir Purr is excited (as always).

The refurbished football field will not only be used by the high school students but by recreational programs from the community as well.

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Back-To-School Charlotte 2014 - Community Events

It's back-to-school time in Charlotte, as Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students officially say goodbye to summer, and return to learning on Monday, August 25. Below is a handful of great community initiatives (of which I know organizers personally, and commend them for giving back), that are making the start of the school year better and brighter for our youth.

Please support these causes and spread the word!

Cuttin' Class - Community Hair Cutting Day
Saturday, August 23 | 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Park West Barber College, 3120 Wilkinson Blvd.
Just as they've done each year, the owners and staff of No Grease Barbershops are converging at one location and offering free hair cuts on the Saturday before kids go back to school. The free hair cut day will also include giveaways of book bags and school supplies. Boys grades K-12 are welcomed. Presented by No Grease, Inc. and The IT Factor Media Group. nogrease.com, Facebook event.

Hair-A-Thon Community Back-to-School Event
Saturday, August 23 | Begins at 9 a.m.
Pure Body Salon & Spa, 2415 Tuckaseegee Rd.
Young girls can come get pretty in time to start school, as this salon is offering free hair services to the first 60 girls, ages 5-13. They will also be given free school supplies and other goodies. purebodysalon.com.

West Fest
Saturday, August 23 | noon-6 p.m.
West Charlotte High School, 2219 Senior Dr.
This was a popular, annual summer festival on Charlotte's west side in the 1990s, and after a long hiatus, Project L.I.F.T. brought it back last year. This year's family friendly, free event will feature an appearance and performance by ABC Family star and “Just a Kiss” recording artist Mishon, as well as performances by local and regional R&B, jazz, gospel, dance, and hip hop artists, and the West Charlotte High School band. There will also be vendors, a resource fair, health screenings by Novant Healthcare, food, games, prize giveaways, and more. projectliftcharlotte.org, facebook.com/ProjectLIFTCharlotte.

Million Father March
Monday, August 25
Your child's school
The Million Father March is a nationwide initiative to encourage more fathers, particularly African-Americans, to become more involved in their children's education. The effort is kicked off each year by a campaign to get men in local communities to escort kids to the first day of school. And for the second consecutive year, Project L.I.F.T. is organizing it for seven CMS Schools: West Charlotte High School, Allenbrook Elementary, Statesville Road Elementary, Walter G. Byers School, Bruns Academy, Druid Hills Academy, and Ranson IB Middle School. Charlotte volunteers are being asked to sign up by visiting http://bit.ly/millionfathers, and the day will also include distributing of school supplies.

Back-to-School Ice Cream Social
Saturday, August 30
Center of Hope
InSPIRE Charlotte, a nonprofit organization created by professional women who are single parents, are organizing an ice cream social to brighten the day of the 120 school-age children that reside at Center of Hope in Charlotte, an organization that houses and provides services to homeless women and children. The ladies from InSPIRE Charlotte will serve ice cream sundaes and deliver school supplies to the children. If you would like to contribute, you can send school supplies and/or monetary donations to InSPIRE Charlotte, attn: Mashea Miller, P.O. Box 1316 Davidson, NC 28036; or contact  the organization at inspirecharlotte@gmail.com. meetup.com/inspirecharlotte.

And in other back-to-school news, CMS employees received an enthusiastic boost of encouragement during their pep rally yesterday at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Post by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

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West Fest Community Celebration Returns to Charlotte's Westside this Saturday

Charlotte natives know this city before it became what it is today, the way we transplants know it. Because of my work as a journalist, I tend to learn more about this city's history than the average person who moved here within the last decade, like myself (Charlotte had the nation's fastest growing population from 2000 to 2010, by the way). And I love talking to natives who share stories about how things used to be, like how Uptown Charlotte wasn't always the hip and attractive destination it is now, and where certain low-income housing projects used to be, long since replaced by ritzy urban living. As they wax poetic on yesteryear, most will agree that we're all better off with the Charlotte of today. But for some, they want to bring back a little of what's been lost.

That's the case with West Fest, an annual community festival that thrived in the 1990s and that showcased Charlotte’s Westside. It would take place on the football field of West Charlotte High School and feature local vendors, live musical performances, community resources, games, and more. Now, through a collaborative effort led by several local organizations, West Fest returns this Saturday, August 24, noon to 6 p.m., free and open to the public.

West Fest 2013 is being presented as the latest initiative from Project L.I.F.T., the lauded public/private partnership between community leaders, Charlotte-based corporations and foundations, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to help transform West Charlotte High and the eight elementary and middle schools that feed into it. The other major partners in West Fest are UNCC's Urban Education Collaborative, Radio One Charlotte, WBTV, and West Charlotte alum Amber May.

It's an event for the whole family. There'll be food, games, vendors, and a full afternoon of performances from about 20 musicians, poets, and dance groups. The performance lineup includes rappers Bettie Grind and Mr. 704, soul singer Nicci Canada, slam poet Bluz, the West Charlotte band and cheerleaders, and more before national gospel recording artist Zacardi Cortez closes out the stage. Click here for the complete schedule.

Each of the entertainment acts will be introduced by West Charlotte graduates from the 1970s through 2000s, including many who have gone one to become community leaders, like Charlotte City Councilman and mayoral candidate James “Smuggie” Mitchell and JCSU head basketball coach Steve Joyner. There was a time when West Charlotte was churning out future community leaders like them, as well as former-Charlotte-mayor-turned-recently-appointed-U.S.-Secretary-of-Transportation Anthony Foxx. That's the vital community West Fest is trying to showcase, and that Project L.I.F.T. is working year-round to bring back. It starts with the community, the parents, the youth--everyone.

In other Project L.I.F.T. news, the organization is asking fathers with students at any of its nine schools to personally take their kids to school on August 26. They're participating in the nationwide Million Father March, created by The Black Star Project, to increase adult male participation in schools. Research shows an increase in male involvement increases academic and social outcomes for students.

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Saturday's Black History Brain Bowl Is One of Several Great Programs by Project L.I.F.T.

It was a little more than two years ago that plans for the ambitious Project L.I.F.T. philanthropic education initiative were announced to help improve some of Charlotte's lowest-performing schools. Several of the city's largest corporations and charitable foundations--Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Duke Energy, and the C.D. Spangler and the Leon Levine foundations, among others--came together to give $40.5 million to launch the program; then several other community organizations and philanthropists stepped up during the next year and a half to help the group reach its $55 million fundraising goal. Now, with Project L.I.F.T. having been officially implemented in a five-year plan with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system, beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, we're seeing many of the efforts start to come to fruition.

You can witness one of those efforts in a fun and creative way this Saturday, February 23 during the first-ever “Lifting Our Black History” Brain Bowl at West Charlotte High School. At the crux of Project L.I.F.T. is West Charlotte High and the elementary and middle schools that feed into it. The six middle schools are competing in Saturday's Brain Bowl, and the teams have been preparing for it all month with IB students from West Charlotte tutoring them.

There will be three rounds in the bowl, consisting of true false, multiple choice, Family Feud-format, and single-elimination questions. The questions have been written by the staff at Beatties Ford Road Public Library and are derived from the book African American Firsts: Famous Little-Known and Unsung Triumphs of Blacks in America, by Joan Potter. Students received copies of this book last semester, thanks to a donation by Johnson C. Smith University. The Brain Bowl is designed by Charlotte City Councilman James “Smudgy” Mitchell, his wife and former astronaut Joan Higginbotham, and West Charlotte IB students. The event will be moderated by Mayor Anthony Foxx, Congressman Mel Watt, Councilwoman Lawana Mayfield, Councilman David Howard, and Former Mayor Harvey Gantt. This event alone embodies how much of a community effort Project L.I.F.T. is.

Parents and the community are invited to attend the “Lifting Our Black History” Brain Bowl, this Saturday, 9 a.m. at West Charlotte High School, 2219 Senior Drive, and support their favorite middle school. The school with the most school spirit will receive an award along with the first and second-place winners in the competition.

The Brain Bowl is just one of several innovative ways Project L.I.F.T. organizers are attempting to achieve 90 percent proficiency, 90 percent on grade level, and 90 percent graduation goals with its more than 7,000 students. CMS recently signed off on a plan that will allow four Project L.I.F.T. schools--Bruns Academy, Walter G. Byers School, Druid Hills Academy, and Thomasboro Academy--to begin a year-round school calendar beginning next school year. Project L.I.F.T. is also engaging in the One Laptop Per Child program and Microsoft's Shape the Future program, to provide computers and Internet access to students and families at a significantly reduced cost. 

Read more about Project L.I.F.T. and find out how you can support this great initiative, by visiting www.projectliftcharlotte.org.

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Great News Story On Mentoring In Charlotte

The latest story in FOX Charlotte's "Reboot Charlotte" series is about mentoring youth ("More People Are Mentoring"). If you aren't familiar with the series, "Reboot Charlotte" is the news station's ongoing chronicling of the city as it "emerges from the recession and is thrust onto the world stage with the Democratic National Convention." The segment on mentoring captures an important piece of Charlotte's great philanthropic culture.

FOX Charlotte anchor Morgan Fogarty tells the story of how local people are giving more of their time, at a time when it's more difficult for some to give money. If you've ever volunteered as a mentor to a young person then you likely agree that time is the most valuable thing you can give.

One of the people Morgan interviewed is Katie Black, a wonderful, caring woman who mentors at Druid Hills Elementary School and is actually the person who recruited me. Thanks to Katie, I began mentoring a fourth grader at Druid Hills during the last six weeks of the school year--meeting with him for one hour a week during his lunch and recess period. I plan to continue to be his "lunch buddy" during this upcoming school year. If you would like to learn more about this program, which is a part of Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, email me and I'll gladly tell you more about it: JarvisH@grownpeopletalking.com. Druid Hills is being expanded from K-5 to K-8 this upcoming school year, so the mentoring program will certainly need more volunteers. It only requires a little of your time and makes a big difference.

Katie Black discusses her mentoring program with Morgan Fogarty.

Another person Morgan interviewed is Brian Willis, president of 100 Black Men of Charlotte, which has the Movement of Youth mentoring program. Brian has a great part in the news clip where he says, "They ask you two questions in Charlotte: what church do you go to and where do you volunteer? And if you don't have an answer, then your conversation is pretty short in this city." I agree wholeheartedly. I've attended several meetings and events during the last six months or so where some very successful people were present and they talked about the importance of volunteering, mentoring, or just overall making a positive difference in the community. We're seeing this come together in a big way with Project L.I.F.T., for example.

Watch the four-minute news video below (or click here to view it).

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