On Wednesday March 17th, Men Standing Positive (MSP) visited the students and staff at the Alternative Learning Academy in Centralia, IL. Brittany from the Centralia Sentinel covered the story:
RAPPER COMES TO ALTERNATIVE LEARNING ACADEMY
CENTRALIA — Students of the Alternative Learning Academy in Centralia were met by a motivational speaker Wednesday who originated from Carlyle.
Michael Wuebbles shared his journey to becoming a professional rapper with students. The Academy
serves at-risk students living in Marion, Washington and Clinton counties. Wuebbles, known by his stage name “Paztuh Mike” found a niche for street-style evangelism, where he works with adults and children across St. Louis to give them a more positive future.
The 34-year-old made a name for himself as a hip-hop rap artist, winning awards for best hip-hop artist in St. Louis in both 2014 and 2015. The surprising twist to the hip-hop scene is that his music is built around underlying positive messages and Christian worldviews.
A learning disability hindered his academic plans, not learning how to read until he was 22. Music gave him his first taste of success. “(Music) was the only thing I was ever good at,” Wuebbles said.
His music did not always have such an uplifting spin. Wuebbles said his raps were inspired as a teen “meditating” on lyrics of music about drugs, women and money. Taking these song lyrics so to heart, he began to put the words into action, growing drugs in his Carlyle home.
Wuebbles told the kids at the meeting that “gangsters” are romanticized in the movies, and the reality of that lifestyle does not look pretty. He said everyone wants to be a gangster until they see the reality of children getting abducted and family members shot in the face.
Even though he said he was never from “the hood,” he still related to a gangster lifestyle, which Wuebbles defines as working to get what you wanted regardless of the cost. He said he was born into generations of pimps, both his father and grandfather were wrapped up in the practice. Even though Wuebbles never met his father until he was 24, he said people who knew his father would tell Wuebbles he would become just like him. But Wuebbles said he chose not to believe the narrative written for him and changed his path.
Principal Kim Voss said Wuebbles’ speaking aligned perfectly with what the staff at the Learning Academy work to teach the children.
She said the 56 students enrolled in the school all come in with different reasons for a referral, whether they are failing classes, missing credits, or experiencing a behavioral issue. Whatever the reason, they all fall under the same umbrella: “At risk.”
Voss said when Wuebbles shared in his presentation that he was never successful in school as a child because of a learning disability, every student tuned in to relate. “The thing that affected (students) most was knowing he was labeled,” she said. “I think just seeing what he was doing with the background he had was an eyeopener.”
When welcomed into the family at the Learning Academy, all students are required to complete the “Why Try Program” in the school that equips students with coping skills. Voss said through the program, the students analyze themselves to figure out why they make the choices they do, empowering struggling students to make a change.
“When you walk in the doors, you walk in with a clean slate,” she said.
As a part of the program, students create a name tag of labels that they feel apply to them. Voss said the labels were nearly all negative, writing down words like “worthless,” “loser,” “criminal” or “bad” to describe the way they see themselves. The rest of the class would then generate a new positive identity, one by one, to describe how each student is actually perceived.
Following Wuebbles motivational call to take ownership of your own identity, teacher Lori Sheets gave each student a new nametag with their new, positive label. Voss said there is always a reason why a child fails all of their classes, whether they are battling depression, disability, or experiencing problems at home. She said it is her staff’s job to help students overcome whichever obstacle is holding them back. “The key is finding out the reason and getting them (students) to change their mindset,” she said.
Community Outreach Director for Wuebbles’ nonprofit, Quinton T. Westbrook Jr., said holding true to his identity was an important part of growing up in Centralia. In and out of his life, he became friends with a lot of people involved in drug circles. His friends in the scene respected him enough not to get him involved. “I never felt pulled or drawn,” Westbrook Jr. said. “They knew I was trying to be different…they always let me know when something was about to go down.”
Westbrook Jr. said the most frustrating part was knowing that his friends respected him more than they respected themselves to leave the scene and make a change. Westbrook Jr. said he remembers Centralia as a peaceful place where kids could disappear for hours on end in the summertime without their parents worrying anything harmful could happen to their children.
Times have changed, and he said the increase of drug distribution has left a noticeable imprint on the community. After moving away, Westbrook Jr. said returning to Centralia has made him realize the change he would like to bring back to the community.
“When I came back, it was in worse shape than when I left.” Westbrook Jr. said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do in our community,” Westbrook Jr. said the community will need to pull together to provide mentorship roles to the teenagers living in their neighborhoods. Oftentimes when turning to violence, the teenagers feel that they do not have anyone to turn to. Adults can play a large role in providing hope and changing a child’s perspective.
Wuebbles explained to the students the concept of a “victim mindset,” where he said despite what has happened to you, you can choose to move forward. “If you sit around and wait for it, it’s never going to happen,” Wuebbles said.
Voss said though this year has been challenging to motivate students, the staff has been working hard to keep students aiming for success, the ultimate goal to be able to rejoin their own school, graduate and live a healthy life. “We are an opportunity for them,” Voss said. “That is our total focus, to change their mindset.”
bmisencik@morningsentinel.com
CLICK BELOW TO SUPPORT MSP SCHOOL EVENTS!
