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Lessons Lost: The Struggle In Some New England Classrooms To Talk About Race

What we don’t learn in school can matter as much as the lessons we do learn. In this fourth and final episode of a special radio series on “Racism In New England,” we talk to teachers and students about the harm of omitting stories and cultures from curricula — and how we can do better.

Premieres: Thursday, October 8, 2020

Check your station here for specific air dates in New England.

This series on "Racism In England" is produced by the New England News Collaborative and America Amplified

GUESTS:

Derek Johnson, an elementary literacy coach who recently left Springfield School District in Vermont.

Adaeze Okorie and Grace Landry, co-founders of New Hampshire for Anti-Racist Education. The group’s mission is to understand and undo the effects of systemic racism in the state’s education system. Okorie and Landry attended public school in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Mugabo Thierry Uwilingiyimana, sixth-grade math and science teacher in the Winooski School District in Vermont. 

Fiona Hopper, social studies teacher leader and coordinator of Wabanaki studies in Maine's Portland Public Schools. She is beginning work on an Africana studies curriculum in the district.  

CREDITS:

Hosts: Peter Biello of New Hampshire Public Radio and Traci Griffith

Coordinating Producer: Morgan Springer

Producers: Jane Vaughan of New Hampshire Public Radio, Lydia Brown of Vermont Public Radio and Daniela Luna.

Executive Producer: John Dankosky of America Amplified

Executive Editor: Vanessa de la Torre

Additional support: Connecticut Public, New England Public Media, Vermont Public Radio, Maine Public Radio, New Hampshire Public Radio and CAI Cape and Islands. America Amplified and the New England News Collaborative are funded, in part, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Vanessa de la Torre is Chief Content Officer at Connecticut Public, overseeing all content with a mission to inform, educate and inspire diverse audiences across the state, including on radio, television and our organization’s 60-plus digital platforms.
Morgan Springer is the host/producer for the weekly show NEXT and the New England News Collaborative, a ten-station consortium of public radio newsrooms. She joined WNPR in 2019. Before working at Connecticut Public Radio, Morgan was the news director at Interlochen Public Radio in northern Michigan, where she launched and co-hosted a weekly show Points North.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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Connecticut Public’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.