BE A BALLER -"Building a lifelong legacy"

Catherine Willis: Building a Legacy in Community Service and Empowering Students in Education and the Arts

• Coach Tim Brown, Uncommon Life • Season 4 • Episode 7

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Catherine Willis, an over 50 year member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and  founder of Urban Strings, shares her inspiring journey from Cleveland's Outhwaite Homes to the Columbus Hall of Fame. With a deep-rooted commitment to nurturing young talent, Catherine emphasizes the power of community support, education, and faith in transforming lives. Hear firsthand how her upbringing in a supportive village environment and the lessons learned from her mother, a dedicated teacher, fueled her life's mission to empower underserved children.

In this episode, Catherine takes us through the creation of impactful programs like Urban Strings and the Helen Jenkins Davis Scholarship. Discover how she encourages minority students to explore their musical talents and provides financial support to African-American students in Columbus City Schools. Learn about the collaborative efforts that have turned these dreams into reality, showcasing the incredible achievements of young talents like Tristan Davis and Red Coltrane Ingram. Catherine's story is a testament to the importance of representation in the arts and the cultural enrichment these initiatives bring to communities.

Celebrate a legacy of service and empowerment as Catherine shares touching anecdotes about former students who have thrived under her mentorship. From a Juilliard graduate making waves in the arts to a plumber inspired by small gestures of kindness, the ripple effect of her work is undeniable. Catherine's induction into the Columbus Hall of Fame underscores her unwavering dedication to children's education and community service. This episode honors her faith-driven journey and the lasting impact of community support, leaving listeners inspired by the profound legacy of empowerment she's built.

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Speaker 1:

When I was a child, I had to take castor oil, but my mother would put orange juice on top of it so that it wouldn't be so bad. So what we're doing is, as we teach them the techniques of how to hold a bow and what to do with correctly with the instrument, we're also allowing them to improvise and play some of the music that they hear on their phones and that kind of thing phones and that kind of thing.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to Be A Baller podcast where we discuss how to build a lifelong legacy. I'm your host, coach Tim Brown Today. I'm excited to have in the studio with me today a dedicated community activist, and I call her the mother of the community, catherine Willis. Today on the show, mrs Willis will share her experience growing up and being an educator in Columbus City Schools. Mrs Willis has served on numerous boards in the community that impact the lives of children and families. She was co-founder of Lunch Bunch, which is sponsored by Helen Jenkins Scholarship Fund. Today she's the founder of Urban Strings, a youth orchestra that started with two students and now has had hundreds of students participating. Ms Willis has always been dedicated to helping underserved children and exposing them to different opportunities for growth. She's also an over 50-year member of Delta Sigma, theta sorority and an alumni member of Twin Rivers Traveller of the Links. She's a faithful member of St Phillips Lutheran Church, having served on church council and the worship committee. Welcome, ms Willis, to Be a Baller podcast.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, I'm pleased to be here and humbled and honored.

Speaker 2:

That was surely a mouthful to me to get it all in, but there's so much more that you have done and we'll get a lot of discussions. Okay, let's jump in. We're both from the Cleveland area. Yes, can you talk about growing up in Cleveland and the life lessons and really talk about that village during that time?

Speaker 1:

Right? Well, tim, my mother and father relocated to Cleveland from Georgia because, as you know, those were the times of suppression and they needed to go somewhere where they would be able to really be able to thrive and raise a family. So I was born in Cleveland and one of the things that happened to us that really was great is that was at the time that they were building housing projects, and they built one here, I know, in Columbus, which was, I think, poindexter Village, and then they had one they have and had one in Cleveland called the Althwaite Homes, and so I grew up in that setting and, interestingly enough, most of the families in that housing project were two parent families. There was a father in the home and everybody was working. Many of the mothers were stay-at-home mothers, but we had that whole village concept that the parents looked out for each other and, of course, they looked out for their children.

Speaker 1:

So, even though you might not be in the eyesight of your parents, if you were in the eyesight of one of those persons that lived in the project, then you were in trouble. If you did something you weren't supposed to do and I had that happen to me a couple of times One of the neighbors told my mother that I was walking on the grass. You know that was something we couldn't do, and of course my mother did not refute what she said. Whatever the adult said, then that was the way it was, and so I was punished for something that was not supposed to be. You know, you walk on the sidewalk, you don't walk on the grass. So that whole village concept was what I grew up with, and my own personal feeling is that we've got to get back to that again as we work with our children and work with our community.

Speaker 2:

You know you're involved in education. Yes, You're an educator. You know you're involved in education. Yes, You're an educator. And the story goes that when you were young, your dad would say that you were on the porch kind of practicing being a teacher. Yes, yes, teaching school so why did you want to be involved in education?

Speaker 1:

I guess it's just always been kind of in my blood. My mother was a teacher and what was interesting is that at the time that she was a teacher, all you had to do was to have finished high school, and so she was able to teach school as a result of just being a high school educator. And I've always saw that, and my parents always made us know that we had to have an education. You didn't have a choice when you graduate from elementary, you went to middle school. When, when you graduate from elementary, you went to middle school, when you graduated from middle school, you went to high school. When you graduated from high school, you went on to college. You had to have some kind of degree and at that time teaching was one of the most respected and the most accessible careers for us as black people. So I've always wanted to be a teacher and, would you know, mimic my teachers when I was on the porch playing with the other kids.

Speaker 2:

You know what brought you to Cleveland Leaving, you know, leaving the Browns, oh my goodness, oh, my goodness.

Speaker 1:

I was a first year teacher in Cleveland, had just graduated from Kent State, and I had a friend who was a graduate of Ohio State. She had just graduated and she told me that she wanted me to come over and play cards one night because she had a friend that lived in Cleveland but was from Columbus. And, interestingly enough, the friend that she was talking about was Ed Willis. And the situation here in Columbus was that there were only certain schools that a black teacher could teach in, and he was a math teacher and the school which was champion that he would have qualified to teach in they did not have an opening and so he had to find work elsewhere and he was recruited to come to Cleveland and teach in Cleveland as a math teacher. And I met him at that card party and so in love and I had to move to Columbus because he got a job in Columbus at Champion when the gentleman that was the math teacher retired. So that's how I got here.

Speaker 2:

All kinds of things happen at a car party. That's right, not just cars. That's right, that's exactly right, good, good, good. You know being a longtime educator. What would you share with young teachers today?

Speaker 1:

One of the things that I think is so important is that they have got to understand and realize that the children that they work with come to them from all different kinds of settings settings and don't just lash out and be negative with the child because you don't know from where they're coming.

Speaker 1:

And many times and I say this often is that until you walk in someone else's shoes you don't know what they've been going through or what they do go through or have gone through. So I would just say be kind and be open and just kind of figure out that most of these children don't have any power. They have to do what the adults in their lives either show them, tell them or give them, and so you know, work with them and let them know that you are supportive of them, even when it's hard, even when they don't want it. Just let them know that you're concerned about them, because that's what a teacher is, that's what you're supposed to do. So that's what I would say to them Just be loving and be open and be understanding and stop a minute and think. You know, I have not walked a mile in their shoes and so I'm not sure what they're coming from.

Speaker 2:

That's good. That's good, you know. We also know that you are a strong woman of faith. Can you talk about why is faith so important to you?

Speaker 1:

Well, I didn't have a choice. When I was growing up, as you know, I remember we had to go to Sunday school and then we had to go to church and then in the middle of the week, if there was what BYPU or some youth group, we had to be a part of that. But that was what was practiced in my home. My mother was not the, she didn't physically go to church that much, but my father did. He was very much involved in the choir and he was very much involved in the choir and he was very much involved in the church. He was a Boy Scout leader, had a troop at his church and he was one of the few African American Boy Scout leaders that had a church troop.

Speaker 1:

And so the church has always been a part of my life and I just never had any choice. And when you do something consistently for many, many years, it comes natural. And I just never had any choice. And you know, when you do something consistently for many, many years, it comes natural. And I know from my own experiences. You know that there is a God, I know that there's a need for prayer. I'm not one to put a Bible under my arm and quote scriptures, but I try to show people that I am a Christian and that I do unto others as I would have them do unto me.

Speaker 2:

Your involvement in the community just speaks volumes. The organization that you're a part of and have founded I'm looking at Friends of Art for Community Enrichment and the Ohio Wesleyan Upward Bound Program, Outward Bound Program, Soul Committee, you know, has helped promote art from National African American Museum and Culture Center, Wilberforce University and numerous others. Can you talk about why community involvement is so important to you?

Speaker 1:

Well, one of the things that I remember is that as I was growing up, there were a group of women I think they were called the Junior Board of Phyllis Sweetly and they were a group of young women that reached out into the community and they embraced a group of girls and just taught us and showed us and participated with us on doing community activities. And so I was, I guess, kind of trained to do that, that when you are able to do it then you reach back, that whole Sankofa thing, that not only do you look back as you move forward, but you reach back and bring someone with you. And so that was all that I was exposed to. And so when I had an opportunity or knew that there would be something that would help someone, especially young people, then I would try to be a part of it or help generate something that would help them Because someone helped me. I can't pass, I can't give it to them because they're gone, but I can pass it on.

Speaker 2:

That's great, you know. Speaking of passing it on, in 1997, you were co-founder with the late Thelma Givens retired teacher, the Lunch Bunch Group the Lunch Bunch Group and you got a sponsor, the Helen Jenkins Davis Scholarship. Yes, An organization that's awarded scholarships for African-American graduating seniors from Columbus City Schools. When you think about that time, what was the vision behind that?

Speaker 1:

Well, there were quite a few of us that were around the same age, that had retired and, of course, if you've taught school and been active for many, many years 25 to 30 years you just can't go home and sit down because that's not what you're accustomed to. So we decided, thelma and I decided, to get some of the ladies together that had retired and let's just go to lunch. And we did. You know, we would visit the different art activities or we would get involved in some of the cultural things that were going on. And then we just had a kind of a conversation and say, well, now you know, what else do we need to do? And, of course, with all of us having come out of the school system and knowing what the needs are, we decided well, let's see if we can't maybe create a scholarship for an African-American graduating senior. And we thought, well, we don't want to raise money, you know, we just want to go in our pockets and make a donation. Well, that was fine.

Speaker 1:

Once we decided what we were going to do and how we were going to do it, then we decided who would we name it after? And we decided to reach out and name it after and honor Helen Jenkins Davis. And Helen Jenkins Davis was among the first African-American teachers in Columbus City Schools but, even more important, she was a major witness in the desegregation case with Judge Duncan and helped him make the decision about the fact that the school system was out of compliance and needed to change. And so we decided to honor her by calling it the Helen Jenkins Davis Scholarship. And up until maybe just before the COVID, we decided we were going to do something different. We were going to go ahead and have fundraisers and raise more money so that we could give more scholarships. And so for the last two years two or three years because COVID was involved, so I'll say the last three years we have been able to give six $3,000 scholarships to deserving students that are graduates of Columbus City Schools.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's awesome. We know that $6,000, those dollars really help.

Speaker 1:

Right right, they go a long way.

Speaker 2:

That's right,000,. Those dollars really help, right right. They go a long way. That's right right. Most recently, you've been the founder of Urban Strings, a youth orchestra growing from two to over hundreds of participants. The question is are you a musician?

Speaker 1:

No, no, I'm a patron.

Speaker 1:

No, no, I enjoy music, and when I was a child, my mother had me in piano lessons and one of the biggest mistakes I made was to beg her to let me stop playing, because I know now that that certainly would have continued to enhance me. I'm thrilled that my daughter played. She doesn't play now, but she did play and she liked it, loved it so much until I never had to tell her to practice, so that passed on my mother's dream. But I'm just a patron of the arts. I love art, I love things that depict and show us at our best, and we have so many wonderful artists, so many wonderful people that have created things that our young people, as well as our adults, don't know about, and so it's just very important that those of us that do know or have access continue to share that information. As far as Urban Strings is concerned, I was a volunteer at Martin Luther King Library and also a volunteer at Champion Middle School, and the librarian had asked me if I could help her identify something different for Black History Month. Well, they had just started a strings program at Champion, and I asked the teacher of the strings program if she might have a couple of people or an ensemble that could go over and just play something simple for Black History Month. And so she found two girls who agreed to play, but they went kicking and screaming. They didn't want to do it and so they went to the library and they played and it was so impressive I thought, well, you know, there must be other kids that look like these, kids that can play, or should be playing, the string instruments, because I think statistics show that maybe less than 2% of the musicians that are in string, that are in orchestras and symphonies are African American and minority, and string that are in orchestras and symphonies are African American and minority. So once I pulled that together and reached out and got some of the kids that I knew in the neighborhood, and then one child would tell someone else, and so we've continued to grow.

Speaker 1:

And I was at a party in Atlanta for one of my friends and the party was being given by Judge Glenda Hatchett, and Judge Hatchett had a young man providing the music and he was a string musician playing all of this beautiful contemporary music on string instruments and I thought, oh my God, that's just exactly what we need. So his name is David Robinson. He's a graduate of Morehouse. Dr Ted McDaniel, who lives here in Columbus, was one of his teachers when he was at Morehouse and he is a composer and arranger and he's the founder of an orchestra called Stillwater Youth Orchestra in Atlanta, georgia, and he is wonderful. He arranges much of our music and now our kids are playing all genres of music. We play jazz, we play sacred music, we play spirituals, we play R&B and we play some rap. So that's the hook for the kids. I had to take castor oil, but my mother would put orange juice on top of it so that it wouldn't be so bad. So what we're doing is, as we teach them the techniques of how to hold a bow and what to do correctly with the instrument, we're also allowing them to improvise and play some of the music that they hear on their phones and that kind of thing we have had.

Speaker 1:

Maybe 99% of the young people that have come through Urban Strings have gone on to college and we're just really excited about them not necessarily becoming musicians but going on to get a career in music. We have one young lady now, tristan Davis, is working on her PhD. She was a violinist. One young lady now, tristan Davis, is working on her PhD. She was a violinist. We had Red Coltrane Ingram and Red is a graduate of New Albany. He is a graduate of Juilliard in Columbia. He is now in California working as a theater major making films.

Speaker 1:

We have two of our young people from Columbus are at Berkeley. One is a third-year are at Berkeley. One is a third year person at Berkeley and we found him at Ohio Avenue School in a program that Twin Rivers Chapter of Link sponsored, an after school program, and he was a part of that as a fourth grader. And so now he's a third year rising student at Berkeley. So we're just very excited. And then we have one young lady that is from Centennial that enrolled at Berkeley this year as a freshman. So we've got lots of stories like that of young people that have come through us and most of them started in middle school as musicians. So we're excited about that, as musicians. So we're excited about that.

Speaker 2:

I know also one one of your legacies is those students that have been in the program. They come back and are now helping out. Yes, yes.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

That's part of the legacy.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yes, come back, yes.

Speaker 2:

Now it's their turn.

Speaker 1:

Yes, that's right, that's right.

Speaker 2:

And that's truly been a blessing. Yes and I. You guys playing is total praise.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

What is it about that song when it's played?

Speaker 1:

Oh, it's beautiful and I view it. As you know, we talk about classics. I view that as a classic for us. It was written by Richard Smallwood, who's still living, and everybody in all of the churches that we were part of. That's one of our signature pieces. They love it and we find them singing along with us. Total Praise, because it's such a beautiful piece and the kids enjoy it and when they play that kind of music that introduces them to some of the Black history, that needs to be a part of their repertoire when they're talking and playing this music.

Speaker 2:

That's good. You know you were recently inducted into the Columbus Hall of Fame, you know. Can you talk about that honor?

Speaker 1:

Well, it was very humbling and I was just almost in disbelief when Mayor Ginther called and told me that I had been selected. I was just, I was just speechless and I'm just very humbled and very grateful and very proud and say to others that I don't take it lightly and I hope that I can be a model of what needs to happen as you move forward in life, interacting and working with others, especially young people, acting and working with others, especially young people.

Speaker 2:

You know, as we come around the corner and wrap up, this is a legacy podcast. So when you think about that word legacy what does that legacy mean to you, and talk about how you have built a legacy and continue to build that legacy, can you talk about that word legacy?

Speaker 1:

Okay, I guess that means there's something that you're passing on. One of the things that I want to be remembered at as I say this to people, is that I just want to be remembered as a person that made the difference in the life of a child, and I want to pass on the good things and the wonderful things and the positive things that have helped me to someone else, so that they can pass it on to someone else. They can't give it back to me, but they can pass it on, and that's what I would like my legacy to be.

Speaker 2:

Truly I know that's one of your remember someone who made a difference in the life of a child.

Speaker 1:

That's right. You have truly done that.

Speaker 2:

That's right, and I'm going to put children on there.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

There's so many, even when you think back to your days of teaching in the classroom. Yes, you know how you made a difference and I'm sure you had those students. Yes, that remember. Yes.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I remember you were my teacher. Yes, yes, yes. I had a plumber to come to my house one day and I opened the door and he said Ms Willis, you remember me and of course you know you look different when you're five years old than when you become an adult. And I said well, no, I don't think so. Tell me your name. And he told me his name and I remembered his name. He said I was in your kindergarten. I said you were. He said yes. He said yes, and I said well, what did you remember about it? He said the thing I like best is that when we did something that was good and when we accomplished one of the goals that you had for us, he said we had a goodie box and we could go into the goodie box and take out something as a reward for having accomplished that. He said that's what I remember and I said oh good, ok, you remember that goodie box. That was effective, right, that was big, right.

Speaker 2:

And those are the ones who now you see them working. That's right.

Speaker 1:

He was my plumber. Can you imagine that? Right, right, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

That's beautiful, that's life Right.

Speaker 1:

Right, that's making a difference, that's right.

Speaker 2:

That's right. Of this episode, I want to thank our special guests for sharing their wisdom of life lessons that can help empower the next generation. I want to thank Ms Willis for being a pillar of service in the community and building a legacy of what I call faith and action. It's something we talk about, our faith. We talk about what Jesus would do, but Ms Willis has truly been faith and action Right. She's truly been doing those things.

Speaker 2:

They continue to do those things Right and so we're just excited, and I'm sure all those listening to this who remember Ms Willis as their kindergarten teacher, you know they remember that difference that she made in her life Right right. So I want to thank the audience for joining us during this enlightening and informed discussion on building a legacy in service. Hope this episode was beneficial to you. As always, continue to build a lifelong legacy. Thanks, Ms Willis.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much, tim. Thank you for loving me and thank you for supporting me and thanking you. Thank you for just shining the light on me, as hopefully I can be a light for someone else. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2:

It's my pleasure.

Speaker 1:

All right, thanks, ms Willis. Thank you so much. It's my pleasure, all right.

Speaker 3:

Thanks, ms Willis. Thank you If you enjoyed our show. Please share this podcast with family and friends. Be a Baller podcast is available on all major podcast stations. Be sure to come back next week as we continue to discuss on how to build a lifelong legacy. Until then, don't forget to be a baller. This podcast was created by coach Tim Brown and produced and edited by the video production class of Worthington Christian High School.