In this edition of WYSO Weekend: Dayton Youth Radio, Miami Valley StoryCorps and WYSO Curious. We’ll also hear a report on issues surrounding curriculum and testing assessments in the Vandalia-Butler school District. And Yellow Springs resident, Tim Honchel, talks about his experience translating the English version of a book about growing up in poverty in Central America. See full program details below.
- Under The Sour Sun the devastating tale of a children growing up in poverty in Central America. The author is Elmer Hernan Rodriguez Campos and the book has recently been translated for publication in the U.S. A young man named Tim Honchel provided that translation. He is a Maryland Native now living in Yellow Springs. He studied Business management at Asbury University in Lexington when he says a semester abroad changed his life. He traveled to several Latin American Countries and in 2009 in Costa Rica he met Campos, who was lecturing as a poverty expert. I spoke with Honchel about what drew him to the author and his story of growing up in poverty. *Under The Sour Sun by Elmer Campos is available on Amazon and in Yellow Springs at Tom’s Market, Town Drug, Epic Book and la llama and the Yellow springs Library.
- On Miami Valley StoryCorps we bring you conversations between local people who went to the StoryCorps booth in Dayton last spring. Today, we hear Sophia Johnson interview her father Jim Johnson about his career in radio. Jim Johnson is the owner of WDAO, Dayton's first minority owned and operated radio station. *This Miami Valley StoryCorps interview - and many others - can be found at WYSO dot org. Today's interview was edited by Community Voices producer Jason Reynolds.
- Officials with the Vandalia-Butler School District have plans to take more local control over the district’s curriculum and assessment process. WYSO’s Ariel Van Cleave talked with District Superintendent Brad Neavin and school board president Bruce Sucher about how their district is one of several in Ohio that want to radically change their relationship to the state. The board recently passed a resolution expressing their disapproval with current student assessments and mandates.
- Today on Dayton Youth Radio we have a story from Daryl White from DECA, the Dayton Early College Academy. Daryl loves rap music and enjoys talking to his parents about hip hop culture. Here's project coordinator Basim Blunt.
- On Sunday, June 14th The Hispanos Dayton Festival will take place at St. Mary’s Church in Dayton. The Festival is entering it’s second year and Sister Maria Stacy with Catholic Hispanic Ministries says organizers have made a special effort this year to broaden the festival’s appeal beyond the local Hispanic community. I recently spoke to her about those efforts.
- In WYSO Curious, our series where you ask the questions and our producers answer them, we tackle a tough subject: vaccinations. Scott Croshier of Yellow Springs asked us, "To what extent is Yellow Springs’ embrace of alternative medicine accompanied by a rejection of vaccination among local parents? Community Voices’ producer Jason Reynolds took on the answer.