Spanish-Speaking Kids Benefit from Oklahoma Pre-K – Children from low-income families, immigrant families, or who are English learners often come into kindergarten with less preparation than their peers, because they don’t have the same access to quality preschool programs. The state of Oklahoma decided to do something about the problem. There, all four-year-olds have the opportunity to take one year of free preschool, known as pre-K. Oklahoma is one of only three states that have implemented universal preschool. A study shows that the program has the greatest benefits for children who are learning English as a second language. Whitney Ortega reports from the city of Tulsa. This report is part of American Graduate – Let’s Make It Happen! – a public media initiative to address the drop out crisis, supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Son Jornalero: Singing the Song of Day Laborers – A cultural organization invites well-known maestros of the traditional music of the Gulf Coast of Mexico to Northern California and takes them out to the street corners to share their music with day laborers as they wait for work. At the end of this experience, musicians from Veracruz and from California collaborate to collectively create new songs, in the son jarocho style, that sing of the reality of day laborers. Fernando Andrés Torres went to an Urban Fandango, where musicians shared their new verses. This feature story is part of the series Raices: Stories About Grassroots Artists.
