South Philly Review

In Cinderella, little girls are told that a dream is a wish your heart makes. For a lucky few, that fairy tale comes true.

Cheryl Lloyd, a 9-year-old student at G.W. Childs Elementary, is receiving academic support at the Tasker Street Dream Center that could help her fulfill her goal of becoming a teacher.

Other fantasies will be realized more quickly, such as becoming a celebrity for a day. On Tuesday, Cheryl will represent Philadelphia at the fourth annual "Power of a Dream" Gala in Washington, D.C., and already is making TV appearances to promote her role.

The young ambassador, of the 1500 block of South 19th Street, will rub elbows with guests such as Oprah Winfrey and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Cheryl and Tasker Street classmates Mariah and Ikia Doman will present a "dream quilt" they made to Wintley Phipps, president and CEO of the U.S. Dream Academy.

Started in 1998, the national organization runs 11 sites throughout the country. The local chapter, which operates out of the Tasker Street Missionary Baptist Church, 2018 Tasker St., was established in 2002.

Phipps, a pastor, created the nonprofit program after visiting inmates and seeing where a lack of options could lead.

"I was shocked by the amount of minority males who were incarcerated," he said. "It really began to move my heart to found the Dream Academy."

According to the Prison Fellowship Ministries, prisoners' children are six times more likely to realize the same fate. And, according to Phipps, children with a long family history of incarceration are even more at risk.

"We studied the problem and the best intervention was to break the cycle," he said.

Through expert advice, Phipps and his associates realized children's need to have a number of caring adults in their lives to counter negative influences.

"That's why mentoring is so important," he said.

Also, Phipps found that children benefited from academic support in the form of tutoring. The pastor estimates that 80 percent of inmates are high-school dropouts.

Since its inception, the program has taught hundreds of students to believe in themselves through its motto: A child with a dream . . . is a child with a future.

CHERYL STARTED ATTENDING the Tasker Street Dream Center three years ago after her grandmother, Mozelle Lloyd, 67, received a flier about the program from Childs School.

Phipps said the schools and churches in partnership with his organization "know the children who really meet the needs for the U.S. Dream Academy."

Cheryl's record of academic improvement and dedication made her a perfect candidate.

"She has good attendance here," said Alice Sheppard, the community liaison for the Tasker Street Dream Center. "She also does her lessons very well."

Since she began attending the program, Cheryl has become skilled at using in-house computers, which were donated to Phipps through Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network and Gateway. The youngster also has increased her math and reading skills, and has participated in character-building and value lessons. She even won her school's oratorical contest in March.

Every student within the Dream Academy has volunteer mentors for guidance. Cheryl's mentor, Sallie Elizabeth Clayton, praised the student's recent achievements in a recommendation letter.