Kingsburg's Santa Lucia Festival

Aired on KQED's The California Report, Fri, December 7, 2007.

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R712071630/b

Drive a stretch of Highway 99 near Fresno, and you'll see it: an enormous Swedish coffee pot rising above the vineyards and orchards. It's really a water tower in disguise and it's the visitor's first hint of how the the 12,000 townspeople of Kingsburg celebrate their hamlet's Swedish heritage. I visited Kingsburg as it celebrated Santa Lucia, an icon from the old country.

Farmer Brown

Aired on KQED's The California Report, Fri, November 23, 2007.

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R711231630/d

And on American Public Media's The Splendid Table, Saturday, December 8, 2007
http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/whereweeat/national_farmerbrown.shtml

About a year ago, The California Report covered the declining number of African-American farmers in California and profiled one farmer in the Central Valley. Now, the show follows up with a story of the relationship between that farmer and a young restaurateur in San Francisco who's committed to sourcing as much produce as possible from California's African-American farmers.

Hula High: Where Everyone is a Doer

Published in Edutopia Magazine, November 2007

A Hawaiian school mixes indigenous arts and culture with academics to create a local success.
http://www.edutopia.org/hawaii-cross-discipline-performance-curriculum

Using a practitioner model to move away from memorizing and encourage depth of learning.
http://www.edutopia.org/how-to-students-as-practitioners

"The Wire" and a Devil's Bargain in Schools

Published on edutopia.org November 14, 2007

http://www.edutopia.org/baltimore-talent-development-high-school
http://www.edutopia.org/the-wire-troubled-students

The heralded HBO show "The Wire" is known for its unflinching look at institutions and urban poverty. In Season Four, it turns its lens on West Baltimore's public schools. I write about how Baltimore students and educators respond to having that gaze fixed on their world, how one school is defying expectations, and how the show forces us to think about reaching the most struggling kids.

Preserving Maori Language

Aired on KQED's Pacific Time, September 13, 2007

http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R709131830/c

You might not think that getting 3-year-olds to sing songs and learn an alphabet is revolutionary, but New Zealand’s Maori leaders have stopped a culture crash through the creation of hundreds of Maori language preschools. Kohanga reos, (language nests) were initially underground pre-schools taught entirely in Maori and by communities’ grandmothers. Now, kohanga reos have introduced a generation of Maori to a language and culture almost lost to them.

Laodies Kustomz: dumping and dragging in Douds, Iowa

Laotian Americans Find Bliss in Iowa Truck Shop
Aired on KQED's Pacific Time, August 23, 2007

http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R708231830/c

In Douds, Iowa (population 200) Jason and Von Chounlamany stand out as members of the town's only Asian family. Fleeing unrest in Laos in the late 1970s, their parents brought the family to Douds, with the help of a group of local sponsors. But the Chounlamany brothers have gained notoriety for another reason; they're the proprietors of southern Iowa’s finest mini-truck modification shop -- Laodies Kustomz.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Centennial

Aired on KQED's The California Report, August 3, 2007 http://www.californiareport.org/domains/californiareport/archive/R708031630/d

For generations, summer in California has meant a visit to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. And this summer, the park celebrates its 100th year of fun in the sun. Over the years, many old-time amusement parks have become obsolete. But the Boardwalk, nestled along the Monterey Bay, has endured as the last of the great seaside parks on the West Coast.