Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] PHILIP SCHULTZ is a famous poet and writer.  This poetry collection Failure won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize.  He founded and directs The Writers Studio in New York and has been teaching creative writing for years.  And yet, Schultz has dyslexia.  In his recent memoir, My Dyslexia, Schultz recounts his childhood struggles trying [...]

Filed under: arts, author, family issues, parenting, school issues |

Hour 1 New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is pushing an advisory committee’s proposal to improve higher-education in the Garden State. The panel recommended consolidating a number of the state’s public universities to create larger and more competitive institutions. However, one part of the plan has sparked fierce opposition – the recommendation to merge Rutgers University’s [...]

Filed under: New Jersey, politics, school issues |

Hour 2 A music education program has changed the life trajectory of hundreds of thousands of underprivileged children in Venezuela and has recently come to Philadelphia. Curtis graduate STANFORD THOMPSON, the Executive Director of Play On, Philly!, uses this after-school Venezuelan program, “El Sistema,” to teach classical music to students at West Philly’s St. Francis [...]

Filed under: Philadelphia, arts, author, music, school issues, social issues |

Hour 1 Laptops, tablets, electronic white boards and PowerPoint are increasingly at home in K through 12 classrooms. Some education reformers see technology as the central to improving learning, personalizing education, and saving money for cash-strapped schools. But so far studies have shown that digital learning hasn’t made the grade. This hour, we’ll look at [...]

Filed under: parenting, school issues, social issues, technology |

Hour 1 Enrollment in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s elementary schools and high schools has been declining for decades, while the costs of running those schools have increased dramatically. Tuition fees, a decrease in the birthrate among Catholic families, and competition from public, private and charter schools all contribute to the Archdiocese's lower numbers. Furthermore, the [...]

Filed under: Philadelphia, economy, family issues, religion, school issues |

Hour 2 A number of hazing-related deaths have made headlines in recent months. Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion died within an hour of a hazing ritual, according to the state medical examiner, that involved “multiple blunt trauma blows to the body.” And eight soldiers in Afghanistan have been charged with involvement in the [...]

Filed under: culture, family issues, health, law enforcement, military, parenting, school issues, social issues, sports |

Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Internationally acclaimed hip-hop artist and peace activist EMMANUEL JAL estimates he was born sometime in the early 1980s in the south of Sudan. At the age of seven, his family was forced repeatedly to flee their small village as Sudan’s civil war moved closer. At this time, Jal was separated from his [...]

Filed under: culture, entertainment, music, politics, school issues, social issues, world |

Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] PHILIP SCHULTZ is a famous poet and writer.  This poetry collection Failure won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize.  He founded and directs The Writers Studio in New York and has been teaching creative writing for years.  And yet, Schultz has dyslexia.  In his recent memoir, My Dyslexia, Schultz recounts his childhood struggles trying [...]

Filed under: arts, author, family issues, parenting, school issues |

Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Writer and teacher MICHAEL LEVY describes China to his students as a country exactly like the United States in size, in cities, in the same number of rich and poor people – but add one billion peasants. Levy served two years of service in the Peace Corps in China and saw a [...]

Filed under: author, culture, economy, environment, health, history, politics, religion, school issues, social issues, world |

Hour 2 Over the years , in what he called the Grand Experiment, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno set out to prove that it was possible to build and field a championship caliber football team without sacrificing the academic integrity of its program.  Paterno, though oftentimes cantankerous, was one of the most respected college [...]

Filed under: business, school issues, sports, teens |