Felicia Gaston: Transforming Children Into Stars

MARIN CITY (CBS 5)  -- Many people who solve problems or make changes in the world start out with a personal dream. That was the motivation for this week's Jefferson Award winner: to transform children into stars.

When Felicia Gaston was not much older than these little girls, she dreamed of studying ballet, but in segregated Georgia, she couldn't.

"I remember seeing other little white girls going to the ballet school, but I knew it was something that I wouldn't be able to do because it was just segregation," Gaston said.

Felicia never forgot her dream. Twenty five years and thousands of miles later, she made it into reality for hundreds of other children in a little space in Marin City, headquarters of Performing Stars of Marin.

Children blossom in Gaston's program, which exposes the poorest community in Marin County to the richness of everything the Bay Area has to offer -- from theater to skiing, fishing, and of course, ballet.

"Felicia provides opportunity for kids who live here in Marin who've never been across the Golden Gate Bridge, if you can believe that, who've never seen the ocean, who've never seen a Broadway production, who've never even been to the ballet," said Marin Community Foundation Vice President Marsha Bonner. "Those are the kind of opportunities that Felicia provides for these kids, and it is changing their lives."

Gaston says, "I've seen the kids' self esteem really come up. Their social interaction is much stronger. They feel part of the outside community. They're proud of who they are, and they represent their community, but they also can interact on a social level with people outside of the community."

Although it's still based in Marin City, Gaston's 15-year-old program is now open to underprivileged children ages 3 to 18 from throughout the county.

One graduate who makes her most proud came from San Rafael's Canal district.

John Lam joined Performing Stars at the age of four and at 20, he's now a featured dancer with the Boston Ballet.

Most of Gaston's graduates don't become professional performers.

Shade Adams is studying to be a medical assistant with her sights set on registered nursing. She was in Performing Stars for 13 years and still comes back as a volunteer.

"Felicia teaches you everything, good etiquette, everything," Adams said.

Gaston says of the nearly 2,000 children she's worked with, at least 60 percent have gone on to become stars -- not of the stage -- but of their own lives.

"I can say that many of the kids that started with me, who stayed involved, they did not get in any trouble with the law in a negative way, or there were no teenage pregnancies," Gaston said.

For showing hundreds of children a world beyond their imagination and making it possible for them to realize their dreams, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Felicia Gaston of Marin City.

By Barbara Rodgers

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