The Sidebar with Eric Barnes

Author: The Daily Memphian

The Sidebar, hosted by Eric Barnes from The Daily Memphian, focuses on arts, culture and everything in between in Memphis, including interviews with people shaping the city and sometimes an exploration of topics stranger, funnier and more surprising than you might expect to hear.
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Language: en-us

Genres: Arts, News

Contact email: Get it

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S6E40: How Merit Academy pursues excellence in literacy
Wednesday, 10 December, 2025

For Lakenna Booker, Memphis Merit Academy is about so many things — helping young kids with literacy, creating a thriving school for parents and their children, investing in her neighborhood, and more. Booker, who is the executive director of Memphis Merit Academy, joined Eric Barnes to talk about the charter school she founded in Parkway Village in 2019.