text: Group brings eager souls together and helps them sing | MLive.com
  Group brings eager souls together and helps them sing
  on May 17, 2009 at 3:11 AM, updated May 17, 2009 at 3:20 AM
  Darren BreenShown performing with the YES choir are Jason Cole, from left, Derrick Pickens, Arion Franklin, Elijah Curry and DeAndre Harris.
  One was once a homeless teenager. Another ran with gangs.
  Muskegon's Arion Franklin was a talented multi-instrumentalist, singer and a high school honor student. He believed in God.
  But, he was ashamed to let people know those things about him.
  "I struggled a lot -- I was afraid of how my friends would react," said Franklin, who is now a junior at Grand Valley State University. "I used to do a lot of things I shouldn't be doing."
  Mia Clark leads YES, which stands for Young, Excited and Saved.Together, Franklin and 29 other Muskegon area youths have found the same answer to the different challenges they've faced, and that answer is YES.
  YES is an acronym for Young, Excited and Saved, a group of Muskegon-area youths whose lives and voices have joined together to sing praises for God.
  The gospel choir was formed three years ago by North Muskegon resident Mia Clark, who is no stranger to some of the more serious challenges some of her students have faced.
  A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Clark spent 16 years of her youth "dealing and using drugs until the Lord changed me and I moved here, said Clark, who turns 47 this month. In 1990, Clark relocated to Muskegon where she participated in Teen Challenge.
  It was Clark's musical talent and passion for serving the Lord that prompted Bishop Nathan Wells Jr. to appoint Clark as director of adult and, later, youth music ministry at Holy Trinity Church in Muskegon.
  Three years ago, Paul Allen Billings, general manager for radio station 103.7, "The Beat," asked Clark if she would be interested in developing an outreach program for youths.
  What Clark came up with was a youth choir that brings together youths from various churches and denominations for the same purpose: "The only thing we want are kids who have a heart for God," said Clark. "We are a ministry that wants to change the lives of children for the better."
  In addition to performing at various events, there are also plenty of social opportunities for the group -- museum, amusement park and shopping field trips to name just a few. The group gathers for rehearsals at least once a week.
  "It's a fun thing to do because we do other activities and sing at all kinds of places," said 15-year-old Breanna Billings of Muskegon.
  "What makes it special is we're all from different churches and it's fun to interact with other teenagers my age and do something positive," agreed 17-year-old LaQuenda Watson of Muskegon Heights.
  Choir members come from various economic and social backgrounds, said Clark. The choir includes students from Orchard View, Fruitport, Muskegon, Muskegon Heights and Norton Shores. Youths interested in joining the choir can contact Clark at (231) 215-0640.
  Some of the group's first participants, like Franklin, who is now 19, and Shakara Beckem, 21, of Muskegon, continue to participate in the choir -- serving as mentors to the younger members.
  "I like Mia -- she's cool," said Beckem. "I'm dedicated to her and the choir because I see what she's trying to do.
  "She's trying to give young people something to do besides running the streets."
  All youths are invited to participate in the choir, regardless of talent, said Clark, who by day serves as assistant principal at Three Oaks Public Schools Academy.
  "We do have some that God did not bless with good voices," Clark says with a laugh. But, Clark, who is a skilled singer, knows how to draw that talent out and blend the choir's voices into a cohesive unit.
  During their short tenure, the talented choir has earned praise not just for their singing voices, but for their social conscious efforts as well.
  Two year's ago the group raised eyebrows by assembling in front of a party store and singing gospel songs -- right in the midst of where drug dealers and prostitutes commonly gather.
  "It really messed them up," said Clark, who noted that police, community leaders and student's parents also accompanied the youths. "They had a bad time selling their drugs that day."