Mr. President 880,000 TRIO Trafromative Voices beg to differ

 

Today, as the President talks of cutting TRIO programs from his budget, 4 TRIO Program voices from 1974 to 2025 spoke up for future TRIO students.                                                     We are the voices of TRIO hope.  President Trump wants to end TRIO Programs at our colleges and universities. Today, on the Readman: Truth to Power Hour, at 11:AM EST on 103.5 FM New Haven Community Radio. We paid homage to Rev Allen, my Equal Opportunity Grant College advisor. He loved wearing bow ties. He was the director of a TRIO College Program at Saint Peter's College. EOP was a place where a kid who had the heart but not the means to pay for college was given an opportunity. Rev Allen, we say TRIO opened the door, but you have to run with it. I expect to see you all on graduation day. Today I interviewed Julio Muniz from Academic Affairs, Teacher Prep Coordinator, and a former TRIO Graduate like me. He is bringing two TRIO students as well. We talked about the TRIO story from At Risk to Resiliency. We did not call the President out. We shared our TRIO voices of hope to help him understand that these programs are the things that give hope to the American dream.  We simply share our stories, hoping to persuade him to change his mind.  Amanda Gorman in her Inaugural Poem "The Hill We Climb" opening words: " When day comes, We ask ourselves, Where can we find light in this never-ending shade? The loss we carry, A sea we must wade. We’ve braved the belly of the beast, We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace, And the norms and notions of what just is, isn’t always justice. And yet the dawn is ours before, We knew it, Somehow, we do it, Somehow, we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, But simply unfinished. " When she said these words for President Biden's Inaugural, I felt as if she was reaching into the hearts of all TRIO students. This one is for all our millions of TRIO sisters and brothers, This is the link to our show and a summary as well.  https://www.facebook.com/NewHavenIndependent/videos/909040844636312  The Readman Truth To Power Hour: Trio Promise: "At Risk To Resiliency" May 9, 7:52 am, 58 min "The discussion on "The Readman Truth To Power Hour: Trio Promise: 'At Risk To Resiliency'" highlighted the transformative impact of the TRIO program. Dr. Jesse Turner and guests, Ericka Alfred, Angel Diaz-Salgado, and Julio Muniz, shared personal stories and the program's benefits. TRIO supports students from middle school to graduate levels, helping over 880,000 annually. Ericka and Angel emphasized the program's role in fostering community, academic success, and personal growth. Julio underscored the program's holistic approach, including mental health and career guidance. They urged policymakers to recognize TRIO's importance in promoting education and social justice."  If you like to listen to the tune that inspired my show today, it is Scoot Huron: The Revolution Won't Be Televised https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwSRqaZGsPw  Fight the power, Dr/ Jesse P. Turner  Amanda Gorman

Read the lives behind the books

Where did the magic go in literacy?

 

Just a child in the library, sitting on the floor next to my grandfather. He was reading the Irish Independent from the International Papers section. I said Grandad what am I supposed to read. 

His face lit up, his mind started turning, he said wait here, ask the librarian for a copy of Don Quixote by Miquel Cerventes illustrated by Gustave Dore. It was big, old, but something about the leather bonding attracted me to this book I could not yet read, but try I would. 

Of course, it open new Grandad/Grandson connections. He took the book out, gave it to me. We renewed that book over and over again for a year. That would set us off on hours of adventure, reading, laughing, imagining, and of course acting it out. There is this magical space between books and people, that literacy researchers overlook. They love to study how teachers teach reading, but ignore the magical stuff. 

My grandfather was a World War I veteran who never finished elementary school. But, had the largest home library of any man I have met. He loved Cervantes, Hugo, Tolstoy, Dumas, Dickens, Swift, Wells, and all the Irish and Spanish poets. He could quote from any of them on demand. My dream back then was to read all he read. I am just about caught up to the old man these days. His books keep his memory strong in me. I cannot go to sleep with opening a book, finding that magic hidden in the pages of that magical stuff. 

Many Literacy Researchers inform my thinking, but few understand, it is less about how we learn to read and more about why children should become readers. A story comes to life not from the print, but from the mind reading it. The imagination gives reason to reading, not the printed word. 

Frank Smith, who sadly no one is reading anymore, always talked about inviting children to join the Literacy Club. He said: "It is infinitely more useful for a child to hear a story told by a person than by a computer. Because the greatest part of the learning experience lies not in the particular words of the story but in the involvement with the individual reading it". My Grandad was a master reader, who was an expert in creating invitations to read. 

It would be wise for literacy experts to revisit Frank Smith, spending more time thinking about creative and innovative ways to invite children into the Literacy Club.

Just saying the magic is not on the page, but in the reader. Of course, Louise Rosenblatt told us that in 1978 in her book "The Reader, the Text. the Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work. She is another seldom-read expert these days. She is not a Podcast, she is a lifetime study for any researcher interested in literacy. 

I am inspired by old voices and books,                                                                                                         Dr. Jesse P. Turner                                                                                                                                Professor Emeritus of Literacy                                                                                                         Just another Literacy Club Kid

If you are wondering what tune inspired my writing today, it's I. Don Quixote from Man of La Mancah 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UUDguFEa5E <