'We see you. We hear you.' Tolbert Academy students speak to community in mural challenge

Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy 8th graders, left-to-right, Cynijha White, Tylah Williams and Terena Williams, stand in front of the campus wall at 34th Street and Virginia Avenue that will soon be decorated with a mural that they and their schoolmates designed with artists in Startland’s MECA Challenge.

It was quite a day: Teenagers working with artists and entrepreneurs, stretching their imaginations in a mural design as broad as the community they love — and as close as the fear and joy in their hearts.

Just what the muralists will make of the visions that 7th and 8th graders of Kansas City’s Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy shared for the Startland MECA Challenge remains to be seen.

Two of the concepts from the Tolbert teams that mural artists will be using in the final design include “Knowledge is Power” (top) and the “Jack and the Beanstalk” theme representing how student leaders push through the clouds.

But if you see silhouettes of birds, you can think of a community flying over its hardships, as 13-year-old Tylah Williams remembers her family’s resilience through her mother’s surgery, knowing “We are together.”

If you see inspirational quotes in tufts of clouds, think of the strong-willed family, friends and mentors “there in the shadows,” says Cynijha White, 13, who, like her parents and sister, “didn’t let me quit.”

If you see images like those of Tolbert Academy founders Bishop Mark Tolbert and Dr. Vivian Roper, know that Terena Williams, 13, and her mural-designing partners were thinking of the bold creators in their community and wanting to give something back.

“We see you,” Terena said, imagining the mural’s message to her community. “We hear you.”

In all, some 30 creators worked on the project — students, Tolbert staff and the artists and mentors from Startland, a Kansas City non-profit devoted to entrepreneurship — divided into four teams working online in the course of one school day earlier this year.

The designers had materials on hand digitally to help students find pictures, quotes and artistic elements to tell their story.

But most of all, said Veronica Alvidrez, the Experience Manager at Startland, the project meant to unleash the students’ confidence.

“You could see them step into their voice,” Alvidrez said.

The annual MECA Challenge, which gathers students together to think like entrepreneurs in addressing issues or concerns in their community, adapted to a virtual, online project because of the pandemic this year. The interactive capabilities of digital forums worked, and Startland even had “DJ Joe” — Joseph Straws — on the call as entertainment and artistic inspiration.

Enthusiasm for the project shone through everyone in the four teams, including the Tolbert staff on the call, Alvidrez said.

“Everyone jumped in,” she said. And the most gratifying moments followed as it became apparent that students were having their own “Aha! moments” as they gained “confidence in their own interpretations,” she said.

Once the teams’ ideas were shaped, it was up to the students to make the sales pitch to the whole group promoting their visions.

“You saw them going from (saying) ‘You’ll maybe, sorta like this’ to ‘You’re going to love this idea!’”

One thing was clear all along to the students, Cynijha said:

“This was more than just a mural.”

They saw an opportunity to gather inspiration from their community, she said, and do something that would benefit and inspire everyone in return.

The mural will go up on the blank wall of the middle school building on the west end of the campus on the southwest corner of 34th Street and Virginia Avenue. The team of artists plans to incorporate as many of the students’ ideas as they can in the work.

Their community will see, Terena said, that the young people know the news, understand the difficulties — that “we know what’s up.”

The mural will reflect the will and confidence of a school and its students that love their community, Tylah said.

“People think we can’t stand for ourselves,” she said, “but we can.”

Everyone who was on the group video call caught up in the enthusiasm, Alvidrez said, including DJ Joe.

She said the deejay promised to come out to Tolbert when the artists put the paint on the wall, calling for a reveal party, saying “Let’s celebrate!”

So stay tuned. This party is just getting started.

By Joe Robertson/LINC Writer