Her children would bring their friends. One time, one of the children was about to get kicked out of school and her child told her the grandparents are raising him because his parents died. She found herself listening to the teachers tell her about a child that she was trying to represent but didn't know. Then her children would bring more friends who needed their hair done, somebody needed some shoes. Ms. Shirley says, "I'm always trying to help these kids on the side, and I'm struggling.  I got my kids at St. Mary's school, and they are getting kicked out all the time because we don't have tuition." Yet, she found herself buying the kids clothes then she wanted to help them to have things to do without being on the streets or still at her house when the streetlights came on.  Ms. Shirley began observing the children.  She saw them singing, dancing and saw all of this talent that the kids had.  She thought, "If I had a Performing Arts Boarding School...." and the rest as they say is history.