Although it is officially 2012, we couldn’t let this listener response to our 2011 Auld Lang Syne go unheard. Another rockin’ SOTRU listener of Oakland, California, gives us her Fan’s Fab Five. Thanks, and take it away, Courtney Supple …

As a resident of Oakland, CA, I have to put my town’s episode at the top of the list. You helped listeners envision an Oakland that isn’t normally portrayed in the mainstream media. We are a town of entrepreneurs, of artists, of farmers, of loving people from all walks of life who take care of each other, in spite of and because of the struggles we face. I remember listening to the episode as I’m riding my bike from East Oakland (where Sobrante Park is located), past Lake Merritt, to Downtown Oakland, and as I’m listening to our stories, I am filled with joy and pride and I begin to feel an even deeper level of closeness to the neighbors I’m passing by and the neighborhoods I’m passing through. I didn’t know I could love this town more than I already did, but I do. Thank you

“As for my other top four (it’s so hard to pick; y’all create such a great show every time!):

1. Cleveland, OH - I love the entrepreneurial spirit and it’s so inspiring to hear the stories of people who put their ideas into action and are succeeding!

2. The Bronx, NY – I hear a lot of Oakland in The Bronx story, particularly the first story about the woman taking care of her block. Reminds me of the episode you did on Detroit, where there was a mural that said, ‘you don’t have to move out of your neighborhood to live in a better one.’ It’s always a matter of regular folks taking it upon ourselves to create the lives and world we wanna live in

3. Birmingham, AL - I love it when y’all share voices that don’t fit nicely into a comfortable little narrative that makes us all feel warm and fuzzy and satisfied. The stories heard in the beginning of this episode challenged me and my ideas, and I think we all need more of that in our lives and in our larger cultural dialogue.

4. Wyoming - Nobody talks about Wyoming. Nobody goes to Wyoming. There are more people in several major American cities than there are in the entire state of Wyoming. But there are stories there that everyone can relate to, in some way or another. Whether it’s hearing that little girl sing with her mama, or that police officer talk so openly about being homophobic and how he’s changed, or from communities divided by economic opportunity/environmental devastation, we can all relate to something somewhere in these stories. To realize that connection is incredibly powerful and, I assume, part of the reason you produce this show.

Thank you SOOOOOO much for SOTRU! Thank you for connecting me to others around the country that are creating beautiful communities in the most simple, yet innovative ways. You make me cry and laugh and hope and that’s what good storytelling is allllll about. Well done and keep it up!!!

---

Thanks, again, Courtney. Like Courtney, some of our incredible SOTRU listeners have been moved by the issues being brought to life, mobilizing them to take action and help these communities. It is moments like these that make all of the toiling, hard work and frustrations transform into pride and reaffirm why SOTRU does exists: it is because of the resounding awesomeness and community produced by people in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

Happy 2012 to all of our awesome friends, supporters and communities. It’s going to be an interesting year full of great and surprising episodes that introduce more fantastic  people and places in the great country of ours. Stay tuned … it’s going to be a phenomenal SOTRU year!

In the third installment of 2011 Auld Lang Syne and the Fab Five, we hear from the SOTRU Godfathers themselves: Al Letson, our sagacious host with the most (had to say it) and purveyor of America’s stories, and Ian DeSousa, the other side of SOTRU’s soul. In addition to their top five 2011 SOTRU episodes, we are also sharing an audience favorite of this season and what makes it endearing.

The Fab Five of the voice and face of SOTRU who delivers stories that make you crave more are:

Sacramento
Las Vegas
Birmingham
The Bronx

And, although Al’s last pick is from 2010, it is an incredibly fantastic award-winning episode that should go on your  to-do list before 2011 gets here. Check it out:
BAYARD RUSTIN

The top five picks of SOTRU’s co-creator and chief commander of all things awesome, Ian DeSousa:

Las Vegas
Birmingham
Mississippi Gulf Coast
Oakland
Wyoming

SOTRU listener Deirdre Kennedy shares her thoughts on her favorite episode:        ”Thank you, SOTRU, for your thoughtful and well-produced story on Sacramento. It was truly inspiring, both as a piece of journalism and as a reminder to find a way to help others in the community. Plus, I love Al’s narration.”

As we go into 2012, SOTRU is preparing for another awesome year of magnifcent and memorable encounters filled with intriguing people, communities and issues. So, we hope that you enjoy a very safe and interesting New Year! And thank you for helping us remember the moments of 2011 that have made positive  impacts and promising changes for our communitites.

Being that the 52nd week of 2011 is upon us, State of the Re:Union hereby designates this week “Auld Lang SOTRU” — a time to ruminate and revisit the magnificent moments captured in both the Spring and Fall season episodes.

In the few days following, we will release five favorites from SOTRU team members, including a list of Al Letson’s top five – with a bonus favorite for good luck.

 So, to help get things started, we offer a refresher of the people and places we visited. Take a look, and when you have been thoroughly sated with SOTRU 2011, use the box below to tell us five of your favorite moments, stories or episodes. On Friday, we will share some of these with the rest of our audience.

 The 2011 Spring episodes:

• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Miami, Florida
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Oakland, California
• Utica, New York

 

The 2011 Fall episodes :

• Cleveland, Ohio
• Sacramento, California
• The Mississippi Gulf Coast
• The Bronx, New York
• Wyoming

All of the stories featured in this season’s episodes have made an incredible impact, not just in the lives of those telling them, but in the lives of those who have heard them.

As we are nearing the end of what has been an extremely eventful year, State of the Re:Union would like to recall some of the fantastic adventures and captivating stories shared, and the wonderful people we encountered along the way. The spring episodes took SOTRU to visit and explore rich stories in:

• Las Vegas, Nevada: we find more than just bright lights and glitter here – like an underground tunnel community formed by the homeless, de facto community centers, “the ninth island,” and Uberschall.
• Miami, Florida – we learn of Miami’s cultural diversity, Little Latin America, 1st and Alton – a Haitian rescue mission, and meet  The Spam Allstars.
• Birmingham, Alabama: we see how people are still wrestling with desegregation, the Hispanic cultural is pouring in, and “The Giving Effect” – one woman’s gamble to provide a music program for underprivileged children is paying off.
• Oakland, California: we explore the cost of people dreaming big in Oakland, the hip-hop renaissance, and how different cultural communities are overcoming tensions to unite.
• Utica, New York: we see how refugees are reviving Utica and making it known through food and culture, and what a jam band, a monk, a revolution and a New York home have in common.

The fall episodes take us coast to coast and allow an intimate look at communities facing various issues affecting many people, and the solutions that helped to further unify their communities:

• Cleveland, Ohio: we find how a new generation of entrepreneurs are reviving the city through education, beer and the environment, an inside mountain biking range, and other plans to save their town.
• Sacramento, California: we see how residents are remaking their beloved American city through rescuing a city’s favorite park, trying to keep their beloved Kings, and why communities are connecting despite deep divides.
• The Mississippi Gulf Coast: we learn how residents unite to deal with the aftershocks of disasters – both nature and man-made, about Turkey Creek, and the life-altering struggles some residents are facing as a result of the disasters.
• The Bronx, New York: we meet determined residents and learn of their roles in taking back their city, including a teen mentor helping to inform teens about HIV, to a teacher who is keeping teens off the street with a new international music scene, to some fun-loving Franciscan friars helping the community.
• Wyoming: we learn how people are adapting to the New Old West, how Bibles and beer work together to unite people, what fracking is and the havoc it is wreaking, from the land to lives.

All of the stories featured in this season’s episodes have made an incredible impact, not just in the lives of those telling them, but in the lives of those who have heard them. In the Birmingham episode, Jeane Goforth told her story of making a difference in the lives of school children by cashing in her life savings and starting a music program for underprivileged and underfunded schools. Incredibly, but not surprisingly, some of our listeners jumped into action, and soon, Jeane’s program began receiving instruments and donations from all over our country.

The Wyoming episode took us to the southern part of Wyoming and explored the ill-effects fracking – a process used by some companies to extract oil and gas – was having on the community. After the episode aired in the fall, the EPA began a deeper investigation into the effects of fracking in consumable water. Coincidence?

The stories we covered have produced some interesting feedback and provided additional avenues that are helping other communities find solutions. We would love to know some of your favorite moments from this season. Use the box below to tell us what they are and why you think those moments stay with you.

Like most people I’ve always thought of truancy or chronic absenteeism as a high school phenomenon, but according to experts the problem can affect student performance at an earlier age. In some school districts, in fact, the absentee rate in kindergarten is almost as high as it is for ninth graders. The National Center for Childhood Poverty says that one in 10 kindergarten and first-grade students is chronically absent, although the absentee rates very significantly from district to district.

Kids miss school for different reasons, but one thing is clear; too many missed school days, whether excused or unexcused, can have a huge impact on student performance, especially among low income kids.

In an article I’m preparing for the National Civic Review, authors Hedy N. Chang and Phyllis W. Jordan describe what three school districts—Baltimore, New York and Oakland, California—are doing to address chronic absenteeism. In Baltimore, for example, the mayor’s office, the Open Society Institute-Baltimore and the local school district teamed up to make attendance a top community priority, enlisting a number of local organizations in a community-wide effort to bring down rates of absenteeism. Students made videos on the importance of attendance. Church members contact the families of chronically absent children to find out what the problem is. OSI-Baltimore grants focused on homeless kids and foster-children, two groups of kids that typically have high rates of absenteeism.

Baltimore’s Franklin Square Elementary and Middle School used a carrot and stick approach to create a “culture of attendance.” The principal meets with the family of every new student and emphasizes the important of attendance. The school attendance monitor calls the home of every absent student. After three days the family gets a letter. If the problem persists, the principal calls the home.

But the staff also tries to make the school environment a place where kids want to be with engaging after school programs and extras like dental clinics and haircuts for students who want or need them. Despite a mostly low income student population and pretty crowded classrooms, Franklin has one of the highest attendance rates in the district.

It seems pretty clear that focusing laser-like on a problem like absenteeism can make a big difference. But according to the authors, not everyone is looking at the right data. “Many school districts are in the dark because they don’t look at the right numbers. They look at average, school-wide attendance data, and they look at truancy, not the full range of excused and unexcused absences. Thus, they don’t know how many students are missing 10 percent of the school year, or in other words, how many students are chronically absent. Even a school with 95 percent average daily attendance can have 15 to 20 percent of its students registering high levels of absenteeism.”

Apparently Baltimore was uniquely positioned to focus on this issue in part because the state of Maryland was keeping the right kind of statistics, looking at the number of students who were chronically absent. Also, researchers at Johns Hopkins were doing work in the area of chronic absenteeism.

“Chronic absence is a problem we can fix,” note the authors, “if we look at the right data and start early enough. Schools and communities are seeing attendance rates improve within months when they  monitor chronic absence data, identify barriers to attendance, and reach out to children and families help them overcome barriers to getting to school. People everywhere understand the value of school attendance, which makes it easy for city leaders to rally support for their campaigns.”

The 2012 All-America City Awards will recognize communities that have developed the most comprehensive, realistic and sustainable plans to increase grade-level reading proficiency by the end of third grade by focusing on three areas that have real potential to drive improvements in grade-level reading: school readiness, school attendance, and summer learning. To sign a letter of intent for your community to apply for the award, link here.

---

Mike McGrath is senior editor and chief information officer for the National Civic League. A former newspaper reporter and magazine writer, he is editor of the quarterly National Civic Review, which will be beginning its centennial year of publishing this spring.

Mike’s posts will appear every Thursday on the State of the Re:Union website.

Oakland has so many strong associations with violence and crime. That’s not to say that these things aren’t huge challenges for the city, but they do seem to encapsulate the funnel for which Oakland is shown to the rest of the country. But as we found out in our episode, Oakland – The Self-Made City, there are so many incredible things happening there, lead by innovative thinking and a caring community.

California Is a Place, is a remarkable project that captures the unique stories in beautifully filmed video documentaries. In fact, it’s a passion project as you can tell from the founder’s about verbiage; “We love this stuff. That’s why we’re doing this project. Simply put, California is sensational.” We actually had the pleasure of working with them in producing the El Rey documentary. Scrapertown is a fantastic story that they filmed that features the Original Scraper Team. I’d rather you watch . . . and take in the vivid colors and larger than life Scraper Bike King.