- [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.

- Just ahead on "Carolina Impact."

- If you're a teacher looking for higher pay, would a cheaper house convince you to stay?

I'm Jeff Sonier.

We'll tell you how CMS is looking at building affordable housing for teachers only and how other school systems are already doing it.

- Plus a young man's journey of perseverance with a debilitating disease and how two Charlotte teens bring a fresh look to the fine arts.

"Carolina Impact" starts right now.

(exciting music) Good evening.

Thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Amy Burkett.

Big city school systems like Charlotte-Mecklenburg and small town school systems in rural areas all share a common problem, how to attract the best new teachers while keeping current teachers from leaving for better paying jobs elsewhere.

Now they're trying something new, offering affordable housing for teachers only hoping that teachers who want to live here will also want to work here.

"Carolina Impact's" Jeff Sonier and videographer Max Arnall show us what CMS is planning here in Charlotte and where it's already working elsewhere in the Carolinas.

- Yeah, school systems here in the Carolinas don't have much of a say when it comes to raising teacher pay.

Most of those decisions made by lawmakers in Raleigh and Columbia.

But here's another idea.

How about schools using other financial tools to help make those teacher dollars go farther?

Especially when it comes to the high cost of housing.

- [Genita] School was a safe haven and I also attended Northridge when I was in middle school.

- [Jeff] Genita Nashville is a CMS success story.

A former student here, now a teacher here.

- I felt a duty to come back because skills can't be passed on unless you kind of develop them as an educator yourself.

- [Jeff] Nashville seeing her former self in the middle schoolers she now works with.

- I don't know, she just motivates me every day.

You gonna go to class right there, you gonna go?

She motivates me every day.

She's the reason I get outta my bed and come here every day.

- But just being able to be that guiding light, because at one point when I was here, I had to have that guided light and I had to have someone that was willing to take that time to say, "Hey, today's gonna be a good day."

- But teachers who make a difference in their students' lives, well, they also have to make ends meet in their own lives.

Nashville says she spends half of her monthly teacher's paycheck just on rent.

Is it harder today to make a living as a teacher than it was when you started?

- With the local prices increasing, cost of living is changing.

Being able to go to sleep at night and knowing that your home is safe and knowing that you're not in a problematic neighborhood is important.

(bright music) - When the district surveyed our teachers, 93% said they are most concerned about housing costs.

And another 61% said housing may impact whether or not they continue to work with CMS.

- [Jeff] That's why CMS leaders are launching this new program called At Home in CMS, working with business partners to offer teachers reduced rent on nearly 2000 existing local apartments.

Those who wanna buy a home can also qualify for special low pricing and bank financing on town homes for teachers.

And CMS has plans for its own $30 million affordable housing complex with rental homes built for CMS by CMS, all on CMS property.

- The final phase of this development is a first of its kind Charlotte-Mecklenburg educator community.

We're exploring possible routes and models for the design and financing of this complex.

- [Jeff] But south of Charlotte here in Winnsboro, where the town's entire population is less than some Charlotte high schools, well, they've already figured out how to help solve their teacher housing problem.

- Every time I come out here, Jeff, honestly, I just am so excited what our foundation was able to piece together.

- [Jeff] Dr. Sue Rex chairs the Fairfield County Education Foundation.

Walking us past these rocking chair front porches and wooded screen porches out back, an entire neighborhood of new homes all built just for teachers.

- And in Winnsboro, it's difficult to find affordable, attractive housing at a price that teachers can afford.

And so it was from that we birthed the idea of teacher housing.

- [Jeff] After a year of clearing lots and paving streets, South Carolina's first ever teachers only neighborhood finally had its move in day back in August.

For Winnsboro, it's also the town's first new housing development in decades.

- Well, up until now we've been able to build sixteen homes.

Eight of them are one story and eight are two story.

And we are very much hoping to raise enough money that we can build nine more for next school academic year.

The one story homes for this year are renting at $700 a month and the two story at 900 a month.

- [Jeff] That's a difference maker.

That's a real game changer, I suppose, for a lot of teachers.

- It really is and we think that most of them are probably saving a thousand a month.

- [Jeff] Dr. Rex says on the 22 acres donated by the school system, there's enough room for 50 homes in all including this Technology Center where teachers can take online training courses and it's all located right next door to Fairfield Central High School and Middle School.

- We have a waiting list of teachers who want to be here.

I think some of them kind of stood back thinking, "I don't know if I'd like living there."

But they hear their colleagues say, "It's great."

- Here's our living room space and we have our dining room area over here and the kitchen is over here.

All of the appliances came with the house.

- [Jeff] Kamilah Cook takes us on a tour of her new teacher's only home along with her husband Juan Alvarado.

And how many bedrooms are we talking about?

- There are three bedrooms.

- Kimalah and Juan are newlyweds and new teachers too.

They say the offer from Fairfield County of a job and a place to live right out of college makes Winnsboro a win-win for them.

And where are we here now?

- This is the master bedroom.

And we have our walk-in closet on this side and the master bathroom on this side.

- [Jeff] Did you ever think you'd have an opportunity to be in a brand new house as a brand new teacher?

- Oh no.

Oh no.

This is truly a blessing.

- Yeah, they reached out with this opportunity and first I had to like wipe my eyes and say, "That can't be true."

Like most of my classmates already signed a contract with other school district.

- [Jeff] But teacher housing here in the Fairfield district also means this couple can start saving now for what they really want, a future home of their own.

- We have a goal in mind and this is only the first step.

- I feel I'm more than fortunate.

- [Jeff] It's a similar story for Victor Hernandez, a tenured teacher and soccer coach here in Winnsboro who moved with his family to this one story home for teachers only.

My whole family loves the idea of being here now.

- [Jeff] And what do you tell other teachers about this program?

- [Victor] If you're part of that community that makes your job easier and better, more effective.

- Housing developments for those type of situations are a big help and if help is offered to me, I'm definitely gonna be willing to take it.

- Now, school systems big and small say they won't stop lobbying lawmakers for higher teacher pay, but housing help for teachers is simply one more way to help convince the very best teachers to stay.

Amy.

- Thank you Jeff.

What an innovative idea.

Well, we've got more information about the teacher housing programs at both CMS here in Charlotte and in Fairfield County, South Carolina.

Just click on the links at our website, pbscharlotte.org.

Up next, for many people after being diagnosed with a debilitating disease, it can be tempting to lose hope.

However, one local man who was diagnosed at 18 with multiple sclerosis didn't let it stop him from achieving his dreams.

"Carolina Impact's" Dara Khaalid and videographer John Branscum show us how he's pushing through his pain to be an inspiration.

(bright music) - [Dara] Playing video games aren't just what they do.

- Yeah, we're both in here together.

- For the McAtees- - He's a cranky Kong.

- [Dara] It's a part of who they are.

- It's competitive, thrilling.

I'm in there, my heart's beating.

It can get real sometimes.

- Checkpoint.

- Which means it can also get intense.

- We'll even kick people outta the group if they're not carrying their weight.

You gotta get outta the kitchen if you can't take the heat.

- [Jarrod] It is dangerous.

There's fishies.

- [Dara] And just a little loud.

Nobody's dying.

- But oh.

- [Dara] It's how they've always shown their love for one another.

- I remember when my kids were little, we would sit and play like big MMO games.

- [Dara] And moments of love like this have meant a lot more to Jarrod since March, 2019.

- Tiredness just like very tired compared to other people.

Like, I swear I could sleep forever.

You feel kind of weak some days.

It's like my muscles don't kind of feel like I'm lifting right.

- [Dara] He's talking about some of the daily struggles he's faced since being diagnosed at 18 with multiple sclerosis, the disease where the immune system attacks the protective covering of nerves.

- One day I just woke up and it was just, I couldn't see.

It was just kinda like you could see, I could see out of one eye perfectly fine.

I could see out the other eye perfectly fine, but when I had both eyes open, it was just two of everything.

And so I went to my mom and was just like, "Hey, I can't really see."

It was kind of just a kind of moment of just like, I don't know what's happening, but something's not right.

- [Dara] After getting an MRI on his brain, he received results he never saw coming.

- It was pretty scary, just kinda like seeing what happened to my grandfather kind of growing up and not being able to move and kind of the state he was in.

- [Dara] According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, nearly 1 million people in the US are living with the disease.

Although symptoms look different for each person, some include cognitive changes, vision problems, and fatigue.

- There's a potential genetic predisposition.

So you may have inherited a gene or series of genes where you are again, more likely to develop MS, but not guaranteed.

There's environmental factors, childhood obesity, low vitamin D, cigarette smoke exposure.

- [Dara] Experts like Piedmont Healthcare neurologist Matthew Carraro say there's no way to prevent MS and people of all backgrounds should be mindful.

- It is historically more common in people of Northern European ancestry or descent.

African Americans can still get MS. People of Middle Eastern descent, people from Africa, people all over the world can get MS. - [Dara] Dr. Carraro says there are over 20 treatment options like injections you can give yourself, pills and IVs you can get at infusion centers.

Research shows about 25% of MS patients need wheelchairs at some point in their lives.

- Most of our patients who are diagnosed early and accurately, they go on to be very successful in their lives and do the things that they want to do.

- [Dara] Jarrod is the perfect example of this.

24 years old living out his dream as a software engineer.

- Coding is really just like a fulfillment.

I think specifically in the context of my job, it's like the feeling of like completing something.

- [Dara] It's a career he was being prepared for as a student on the T-Rex 4935 Robotics Team at Olympic High School.

- I joined the team and and kind of fell in love with coding and kind of doing everything that way with the robotics team and just kind of really building some core group of people around me.

- [Dara] And as Jarrod's passion for robotics grew, the same thing happened for someone else in his life.

- I thought it was like "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots," and I went to their first competition and sat in this high school arena and saw these kids and these massive robots that were moving and throwing balls.

And I was like, "That's actually really freaking cool."

- [Dara] From there, Melissa was hooked.

She went from bringing snacks to support her son.

- That's a dinosaur.

- To now serving as the co-lead mentor 10 years later.

- She's just very loving, a huge role model.

She makes you feel like you're meant to be here.

She teaches me a lot.

- She brings the energy and she gets us really motivated to do, for us to do what we love.

And without her, I don't think this would be a thing and I don't think I would be here.

- So Melissa, knowing that your son came through the same program, what does it mean watching these kids thrive and do their thing here now?

- It's amazing and I'm super proud of them because they are learning skills that most adults don't have at a high school level and it's setting them up for success beyond my wildest imagination.

- [Dara] As she pours into students every Monday through Saturday, it reminds her of how mentors like Greg Saul poured into her son Jared when he was in the program.

- He really has excelled.

I mean, he was excelling even back then.

Where he's come from since then is just mind blowing, what he's done accomplished.

- [Dara] And Jarrod keeps the cycle of giving back alive, frequently visiting the T-Rex team to coach students.

- Just like seeing that you were in that position at one time and how you can kind of like you grew up to this and just kinda like seeing the fulfillment of like what will they be.

- [Dara] Jarrod isn't letting MS stop him from enjoying- - Funky Mode.

- Funky Mode.

- [Dara] And making a difference with technology.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Dara Khaalid.

- Thank you Dara.

Jarrod's love for helping and inspiring others doesn't stop with the robotics team.

He also volunteers with a local nonprofit that helps youth get jobs.

There are major changes for two of the Queen City's most stellar arts organizations.

As one of the premier music organizations in the southeast and the oldest symphony orchestra in the Carolinas, thousands come to the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Now its 12th music director begins his tenure.

Meanwhile, Opera Carolina celebrating 75 years has welcomed the first woman to lead the company as its new general director.

"Carolina Impact's" Bea Thompson and videographer Max Arnall show us how they're making their mark as the first African Americans to lead their institutions.

(opera music) - When we think of the arts, in particular the fine arts, we envision the opera.

(opera music) And of course the room vibrating sounds of the symphony.

(instrumental music) And now, both of these well-known artistic organizations in Charlotte are beginning new seasons with new leaders at the helm.

For the opera, one who knows the Queen City well.

- Dr. Shante Williams, started right here in Charlotte, North Carolina.

I am home again.

But you know, really all of this started with, you know, this community growing up in what was Earl Village.

- [Bea] The little girl who grew up in the inner city went on to HBCU Winston-Salem State with the intention of going into medicine, then on to Ohio State where she found a love for opera.

With several degrees, she branched out into banking and it ultimately led to her becoming an entrepreneur.

- But the turn from board member and philanthropist really into operator and leader happened actually when I got the opportunity presented to me to sponsor an opera.

- [Bea] The opera was "The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson."

It's the story of the first black woman to establish the National Negro Opera Company.

Opera Carolina was established back in 1948, but African Americans would not have been allowed to attend and enjoy the opera then.

Yet in its 75th year, it is now led by an African American woman.

For Williams, the key is to change public perceptions about the opera.

- I'm going to rid everybody from saying opera's not for us, and I don't care who the us is, whether that's people of color, whether that's women, whether that's, you know, people of a specific socioeconomic status.

I named my inaugural year here "Opera per Tutti," which means opera for all in Italian.

- [Bea] William says she's received overwhelming support and she sees changes that will benefit the arts community in Charlotte and worldwide.

- I think in the next few years we will continue to see this evolution and revolution of women leaders that have fought very hard for their place in the arts, well deserved.

And probably it's taken way too long, but they're there and they will continue to assume the mantle.

- [Bea] Meanwhile, Charlotte Symphony may have found its muse in newly named musical conductor Kwame Ryan.

- Started conducting the orchestra and immediately thought, "That's a beautiful sound."

And then I realized that we had a very strong musical connection.

- [Bea] By the age of six, the boy from Trinidad knew what he wanted to do after seeing the movie "Star Wars" and hearing the musical score by John Williams.

(intense music) The following year, he made a life-changing declaration during a presentation of "Porgy and Bess."

- My mom tells me that I leaned over to her during that concert and said, "Mom, I want to do what the guy in the middle's doing."

So that was the beginning of the actual orchestral passion and fascination.

- [Bea] He began music school in Trinidad, piano, voice, violin and steel drums.

And at the age of 14, he was sent to England to boarding school and to hone his craft.

- The very first orchestra that I conducted was the one that I pieced together at the boarding school that I ended up at, at the age of 14.

- [Bea] At 16, he became a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and earned the right to conduct during rehearsals.

His first two musical directorships were in Germany and France.

Here in Charlotte, the symphony organization was looking for a good fit.

- Because he has a deeply curious mind.

I think he's always looking for ways to connect people and ideas together and basically create experiences that we can share as a community.

- [Bea] For Kwame Ryan, Charlotte offered a lot of what he was looking for in an artistic home.

- Its education programs, its commitment to diversity and equity and inclusion.

I feel like I could have written the mission statement of the CSO.

- [Bea] For the little girl who came home, and continues to make her mark in the world, her next move is simple.

- In order for people to feel welcome, you have to invite them in, give them an invitation.

And I was like, I think for me this year is about giving people the invitation inside the doors.

- [Bea] It's a new season for the arts in the Queen City and it appears with orchestral conductor Kwame Ryan and Charlotte's own Dr. Shante Williams, who is a venture capitalist and the general director of the opera, it would appear that this city is in for a great artistic run on both stages.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Bea Thompson.

(opera music) - Thank you Bea.

This month join the symphony for Bach and Mozart, a take on disco fever and Gershwin's magic keys.

And if you wanna get in on the production fund at Opera Carolina, they have open positions for performances of "Carmen" in February.

Well, finally tonight, it's officially winter, time for cold days and early sunsets, which is perfect for indoor activities.

"Carolina Impact's" Jason Terzis joins us with one event happening that you don't have much time left to catch.

- Well, it's almost amazing to think that Charlotte's Mint Museum has been around for nearly 90 years.

It was the very first art museum in the state of North Carolina opening its doors to the public in 1936.

In addition to its everyday collections, the museum has special limited time exhibits.

Right now, one of those is happening and we were fortunate enough to get a little behind the scenes look.

(bright music) - I would argue the South then was undergoing a period of tremendous change and growth.

And that's still the case today.

- [Jason] Mint Museum's Senior Curator of American Art, Jonathan Stuhlman, leads a private tour group through the Mint's latest art exhibition, "Southern Modern, Rediscovering the Radical Art Below the Mason Dixon line."

- It brings works in from around 50 public and private collections all around the country.

And it's really the first show to look at art, to bring it all together, to look at it comprehensively, art from this period, from the region, which has really been largely absent from histories of American art.

- I knew I was gonna see Southern art, but I didn't realize the information I was going to learn.

- And believe me, it was beyond our expectation.

- The exhibit featuring more than 100 paintings and works on paper by notable artists from the American South during the first half of the 20th century is an exhibit that, ready for this?

Has been in the works for more than a decade.

- It's a show that I started thinking about, you know, not long after I got to the Mint and started digging into our collection.

And I started seeing works by artists that I thought, these are great paintings or prints or pastels or whatever.

They weren't part of my kind of traditional art historical background or classes in American art.

How come nothing's happened since then to kind of bring it together and celebrate it?

We consulted with many, many curators, museum directors, scholars, collectors, all throughout the region.

- He explained actually the process of bringing these artists together for this exhibit.

- The laundry to me kind of almost looks like flags that one would see on the lines of a boat.

- [Jason] The goal that Stuhlman set out to accomplish was to shine a light on the artists of the time and bringing their work to light and wanting people to think about the ways that Charlotte and the South were changing and growing at the time.

- But I learned a lot more about artists that were from the South or working in the South or influenced the way we see the South.

- It gives you a good perspective.

You don't know where you're going unless you know where you came from.

And this is a great exhibit to see how the area has changed and grown.

- When I found out today was that in textbooks, none of this is reflected.

And it's time that, you know, hopefully with exhibits like this that it will get introduced into, you know, the American art history.

- It was definitely cool.

It's something I haven't seen a lot.

So, I lived in New York for a while, moving to DC, so I've been around a lot of museums and I agree that kind of like Southern arts is underrepresented and it's nice to kind of see a cohesive body of work.

- Everyone coming together in the bargain basement here, looking at all the goods and picking things over and selecting things.

And it's a rare painting in which you see both Black and White populations together.

- [Jason] Sharon Portwood and her son Bryant, were part of the curator-led tour group.

As an artist himself, Bryant looks at things a little bit differently than the rest of us.

- So when I come in, the first thing I always look for is technique, just because that's the way my brain is wired.

So I'm really drawn to some of the paintings that I always find something admirable in them, whether it's their use of color, whether it's their technical ability in the application of paint.

- A lot of things, I look at 'em and I'm like, you know, I can't appreciate this.

What am I missing?

And the best thing he told me today was, look at the time, that people are such a product of their time.

And that was great advice because as you walk through the exhibits, you really do see, not just in the art, but in what people are expressing through their art.

- [Jason] The Southern Modern exhibit is broken into seven different sections covering new urban environments, the Jim Crow era, ritual and religion, many modernisms, a southern sampler, the enduring landscape, and planting new seeds, colonies and schools.

- And when we were picking the works, we first and foremost prioritized getting, you know, the strongest works of art that we could to represent the artists.

And, you know, instead of, you know, one could have gone through and said, okay, here's what's happening in North Carolina, here's what's happening in South Carolina, so on.

But we thought that wouldn't really make for the most compelling presentation.

So once we selected the works, we really just kinda started looking at them and we're thinking about what themes are emerging here?

What are we seeing kinda rising to the top in terms of the subjects, in terms of the approaches?

So people, again, from kind of all different walks of life, we've got the shop boy here who I think these are his shoes and his broom.

He's taken off his shoes to warm his feet by the fire and put the broom down by his stock over here.

- [Jason] As part of the selection process for the exhibit, the Mint wanted a wide array of artists at the time to be represented.

Being sure to include female artists as well as artists of color.

- Women were essential to not only the artistic communities here, but also kind of as cultural movers and shakers during the time.

So you think about the Mint Museum, for example, was founded by a group of women here in Charlotte in the 1930s.

- Many years ago in high school, I had a, I received an art degree.

And I will tell you this is very interesting because this was back in the sixties and we never touched upon Black artists, particularly the ones that we have seen today.

So it was a revelation for me.

- You know, really the visitor takeaway, we hope, is that they learn something new, they discover some artists they hadn't heard of, and maybe look into more, they have a broader appreciation for the culture going on in the South at the time.

I think, you know, we know more about music, the literature of the South during this era, but not so much the visual art.

And so that's, you know, we're hoping to add to that and really for this show to be a springboard for future scholarship and new ways of thinking about American art.

- Takes me back.

I was excited to be able to take many of our major donors here from PBS Charlotte to see the exhibit last fall.

It was fantastic.

But you mentioned there's not much time left.

- Not much.

- Exactly how much time?

- Well, about two weeks or so.

Well, the exhibit runs through February 2nd at the Mint Museum uptown, and it's all part of a traveling exhibit with Charlotte being the last stop, previous stops where in Nashville, Memphis, and Athens, Georgia.

Interestingly though, it was the Charlotte curators who put the exhibit together, but Charlotte is the last stop of the tour, and then February 2nd it's done.

- They saved the best for last.

- Yeah.

- Thanks so much, Jason.

Well, if you know of any exciting things going on, please share them with us.

Email your ideas to stories@wtvi.org.

That'll do it for tonight, my friends.

Thanks so much for joining us.

We always appreciate your time and I look forward to seeing you back here again next time on "Carolina Impact."

Good night.

(exciting music) (exciting music continues) - [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.