VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE 68
AIR DATE 05 03 2019
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
When Schools Close
((SOT))
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
This was my first classroom. Part of the community is gone and a valuable part. It's, kind of, like your extended family.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
After Coal
((SOT))
((Ed Martell, Electrician))
If it wasn’t for solar, there would have been a two-year period when I wouldn’t have worked at all. So yes, it’s very good for us.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Above the Earth
((SOT))
((Shannon Walker, American Scientist, NASA Astronaut))
Even in high school I knew I wanted to be an astronaut, but I had no idea what it took to be an astronaut.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG)) SCHOOL CLOSING
((Banner: Changing America - School Closing))
((Reporter/Camera: Deepak Dobhal))
((Map: Pulaski Township, Pennsylvania))
((Pop-Up Banner: Declining population and shrinking budgets are forcing school closures across rural America))
((NATS))
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
This was my first classroom. I came in the fourth grade when as a fourth grader, that's when the school opened and Mrs. Taylor was my teacher. I remember, we were told this was a new building and take care of it. We had to be real careful.
((NATS))
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
Today, they're closing. They're auctioning off the Pulaski Elementary school building.
((NATS))
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
This building is in Pulaski Township in Pennsylvania. We’re about an hour north of Pittsburgh and the school shut down in 2017. School Board decided to shutter the building and move students to the main building in New Wilmington.
And finally, today is the day we are going to be auctioning our building off.
((NATS))
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
It's a shame. It’s just a….
((NATS: Auctioneer))
It’s really a good building. It’s really a great building. It was built back, I think, back in about 1965.
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
Well, I mean I grew up in Pulaski. I lived here my entire life and my parents are from the township, my grandparents and my great grandparents. So, we've been here for quite a long time.
((NATS: Auctioneer))
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
With the school being here, we have an identity and now with that gone, you lose that. It’s not there. Part of the community is gone and a valuable part. It's, kind of, like your extended family. I suppose, to a lot of people, it doesn't mean anything, but to the people here, it means a lot.
((Joe Wilkins, Local Resident))
It's kind of bittersweet seeing the old school, kind of, going the way it did and everything, but, you know, at least I got to go here, my wife did, my son, both of my sisters went here.
And just, kind of, wanted to come back, reminisce and check out the old place before things are pretty much changed, I guess.
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
What the school district was trying to accomplish was to, they want to reduce spending.
((NATS: Auctioneer))
You should not have to think too hard with that kind of money that you can use this building….
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
We've just lost jobs in the area. Enrollment is dropping.
The teacher’s salary and pension and so forth that we have to pay into is huge. It's a big number. Both of the elementary schools that I went to in the district are closed. And there was originally in our district, there were five elementary schools, and the only one left open is the one in New Wilmington. All the rest have been closed.
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
Just, you just see that stuff happening and it's like the township is dying. It's just going away. When people move somewhere, they look for a school, a church and we've lost our schools.
((NATS))
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
I just think that the school could have been used to enhance the district and grow the district. We're not unique in as far as consolidation and schools shutting down. That's happening all over. I would say our area and I'm sure across the United States.
((NATS: Auctioneer))
Hundred and fourteen thousand. It only hurts for a little while.
((NATS))
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
The day that they voted to close it, in the back of my mind I thought this is a great building. There ought to be something that can be done with it.
((NATS: Auctioneer))
Last call. I sold it to you, hundred and thirteen, plus the premium….
((NATS: Locals with Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
Today, my wife and I, along with friends, now business partners, bought the building at auction.
What are you going to do with it?
We have ideas. Nothing is carved in stone yet but we will make something good out of it.
Not storage?
No, no.
We don't want that here.
No, we want a nice viable facility for the township.
((NATS))
((Joseph Goodge, Local Resident))
I was the first class in the building and my kids were the last class out of the building. And now I own the building, which I never would have expected. And it’s come full circle, and we hope to do something good for the community with it.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Coal to Solar
((SOT))
((Clancy Kaye, Former Maintenance Engineer, Mt. Tom))
I used to come here in the middle of the night, two in the morning, three in the morning, whenever it was deemed necessary to come here and maintain the plant.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((PKG)) COAL TO SOLAR
((Banner: Coal to Solar))
((Reporter/Camera: Steve Baragona))
((Map: Holyoke, Massachusetts))
((NATS))
((Rosa Gonzalez, Neighbor to Neighbor))
My name is Rosa Gonzalez. I’ve been living here for 16 years. One year I was hospitalized four or five times and this affected me a lot and it’s not just me. The children of the community have a lot of asthma.
((Pop-Up Banner: Asthma rates in Holyoke are twice the national average. Gonzales joined advocates fighting to close the Mount Tom coal-fired power plant to clean the air and fight climate change))
((NATS))
((Clancy Kaye, Former Mount Tom Worker))
I used to come here in the middle of the night, two in the morning, three in the morning, whenever it was deemed necessary to come here and maintain the plant.
((NATS))
((Clancy Kaye, Former Mount Tom Worker))
My name is Clancy Kaye. I worked previously at the Mount Tom power plant. Coal and our station has not been very popular for a long period of time. From the mid-90s on, we’ve been, kind of, dealing with that sort of resistance and people trying to get the plant to close and shut down.
((Rosa Gonzalez, Neighbor to Neighbor))
We had been fighting to shut down the coal plant for a long time but we also worried a lot for the workers. It worried me a lot because I had been through the same thing myself. It’s not easy to have a firm job and then suddenly be up in the air. It’s not good. That’s why we fought for the (generous severance) package.
((NATS))
((Clancy Kaye, Former Mount Tom Worker))
They want you to have a soft landing and a just transition, but yet, they have the saw in their hand that is cutting the branch you’re sitting on.
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner: Expensive environmental upgrades, plunging natural gas prices and neighborhood opposition doomed Mount Tom….November 2018))
((NATS))
((Clancy Kaye, Former Mount Tom Worker))
There’s the group that just said, OK, I’m retiring, I’m not dong anything else. And, I guess, you know for the most part they’re doing OK. Anybody who has gone out into the workforce again is not doing nearly as well as they used to. It’s been really a very rude awakening for many people who used to make some very good money, and some very highly skilled people.
((NATS))
((Rosa Gonzalez, Neighbor to Neighbor))
When I found out about the solar panels, I was surprised, but really happy.
((Pop-Up Banner: As Massachusetts moves away from coal, jobs in clean energy are growing fast))
((NATS))
((Ed Martell, Licensed Electrician))
I thought it was going to be a flash in the pan a couple years ago. I’ve seen solar just keep going and going and going, maybe six-seven years.
((NATS))
((Ed Martell, Licensed Electrician))
If it wasn’t for solar, there would have been a two-year period when I wouldn’t have worked at all. So yes, it’s very good for us.
((NATS))
How many of you have been on solar before? So, pretty much every single person in the room except for one has benefitted from solar.
((NATS))
((Clancy Kaye, Former Mount Tom Worker))
For me, I’ve always been a guy that has believed in having some sort of exit strategy. OK, I sometimes call it Plan B or Plan C.
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner: Clancy Kaye started a pool installation company))
((Clancy Kaye, Former Mount Tom Worker))
What we’re going to do is we’re going to actually have a pool park, offices and meeting areas, design showroom.
((NATS))
((Clancy Kaye, Former Mount Tom Worker))
Even when I worked here, I always knew that probably in some way, right, we were certainly not benefitting the environment. We used to say coal is king, King Coal, but, you know, it’s just not that way any more. And I think that, all in all, I think that is probably a good thing.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Underwater Hockey??
((SOT))
((Andrew Creedon, Underwater Hockey Player))
“Ah, underwater what?” and then you have to be like, “Underwater hockey” and they’re like, “Do you mean water polo?” and you’re like, “Nope, underwater hockey.” And then you generally go into a 10-minute conversation of what it is.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) LIFE IN SPACE
((Banner: Above the Earth))
((Executive Producer: Marsha James))
((Camera: Kaveh Rezaei))
((Map: Houston, Texas))
((Courtesy on space related BRoll throughout: Courtesy of NASA))
((NATS))
((Shannon Walker, American Scientist, NASA Astronaut))
Science is everything. Science is how society accomplishes being a society. Science is how everything gets done. It’s how we move forward. It's how all our products get built and made better. We wouldn't be anywhere if we didn't have scientists constantly asking: How does this work? Can I make that? Can I make this better?
((NATS))
((Shannon Walker, American Scientist, NASA Astronaut))
Science is everything. Even in high school I knew I wanted to be an astronaut, but I had no idea what it took to be an astronaut. There's no one path to get to where I am today. Some people are scientists, some people are engineers, some people are medical doctors, some people come from the military, because what we need is astronauts are people that can do a lot of different things. We need lots of diverse people and we need diversity within a single person.
((NATS))
((Shannon Walker, American Scientist, NASA Astronaut))
I was actually born and raised in Houston, and so, having the Johnson Space Center in my backyard always stoked that interest for me because I was always aware of what we were doing and what was going on. I spent about six months in space in 2010. My ride to and from the Space Station was on the Soyuz spacecraft and I was actually trained as the co-pilot on there. So, I spent a lot of time in Russia, training and understanding, learning how to fly that spacecraft.
((NATS))
((Shannon Walker, American Scientist, NASA Astronaut))
We will wake up in the morning. Overnight, the control centers have uplinked schedule to us and what they want us to do that day is what we do that day. And it could be maintenance. It could be science. It could be rearranging the space station. It could be dealing with stowage. It’s just whatever the ground needs to accomplish. And so, you do a little bit of everything in space.
((NATS))
((Shannon Walker, American Scientist, NASA Astronaut))
And I remember very distinctly, for about the first month that I was in orbit, I would wake up almost every night feeling like I needed to turn over, but that doesn't do any good in space and so, you just sort of shuffle around a bit and go back to sleep.
((NATS))
((Shannon Walker, American Scientist, NASA Astronaut))
Living in space is easy. Coming back, it’s pretty hard. You have lots of aches and pains because you haven't walked around for a long time. I mean you float in space and so, we do a lot of exercises that keep us healthy, but you haven't sat down for a long time. So, it gets uncomfortable to sit down for long periods of time because your body is not used to it.
((NATS))
((Shannon Walker, American Scientist, NASA Astronaut))
We're still in such early stages of the human spaceflight era. We're starting off relatively slowly, but I think as time passes, we will just get more and more people and countries into space and I think, ultimately, we will be truly a spacefaring world. We will be going to other planets and establishing bases and other places to live. I think that is where we're going to end up.
((NATS))
((PKG)) UNDERWATER HOCKEY
((Banner: Under the Water))
((VOA Russian))
((Reporter: Maxim Moskalkov))
((Camera: Sergii Dogotar))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Oakton, Virginia))
((Banner: Underwater Hockey is a limited-contact sport in which two teams compete to move a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool))
((NATS))
((Andrew Creedon, Underwater Hockey Player))
“Ah, underwater what?” and then you have to be like, “Underwater hockey” and they’re like, “Do you mean water polo?” and you’re like, “Nope, underwater hockey.” And then you generally go into a 10-minute conversation of what it is, and then you give up explaining it and you show a YouTube clip and say, “This is what it is. The stick is only this big.”
((NATS))
((Jen Whitman, Competitions Director, USA Underwater Hockey))
It’s a three-pound (1.4 kg) puck. It’s got a led core coated in a plastic so that it slides along the bottom of the pool, and then it moves pretty quickly. So, you can swim with it from one side of the pool to the other, you know, in 10 or 15 seconds, depending on how fast you are.
((NATS))
((Andrew Creedon, Underwater Hockey Player))
I'm on the US men's elite team, so we travel around the world competing at the world-level competition. And as I get ready for World's, I'll spend anywhere from 10 to 20 hours a week training for about a year.
((NATS))
((Alex Dean, Underwater Hockey Player))
My favorite thing about this sport is the people. You know, I feel like every place I go, you know, I have a little bit of family because we have teams all over the United States.
((NATS))
((Jen Whitman, Competitions Director, USA Underwater Hockey))
There is a 3D aspect to it that you don't get in the other court sports, because in basketball and soccer you can only run on the court. In hockey, you can be on the bottom of the pool, but you can also be on the surface. And so, there's that added dimension to where you need to position yourself in the play.
((NATS))
((Andrew Creedon, Underwater Hockey Player))
It's a non-contact sport in the sense that basketball is non-contact. So, you can't grab somebody, but you can still, if your stick is on the puck, create body contact to create space.
((NATS))
((Richard Catherina, Underwater Hockey Player))
The most challenging part would probably be getting used to not breathing in while you’re exercising, because that’s a little bit different, with moving around while not breathing, but, eventually you get used to it.
((NATS))
((Richard Catherina, Underwater Hockey Player))
It is truly a team sport because it doesn't matter how good one player is. He is eventually going to have to come up for air. So, there has to be teamwork. There has to be passing. You can't just have one guy doing everything.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
More sports…..
((SOT))
((Mike Ragland, WTEF Tennis Director))
Most of the kids don’t have a male figure in their lives. What I bring to them is like the father figure, like the father of the Center here.
BREAK THREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK D
((Banner: Community))
((PKG)) TENNIS CHANGING LIVES
((Banner: Tennis Changes Lives))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))
((Camera: Adam Greenbaum))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((NATS))
((Andrea Nichelson, 4th Grade Program Participant))
I’m 10 years old. I’ve been coming here for seven years. The thing I like most about tennis is the game. It really gets my attention than anything that I do, just brings up the fire in me.
((NATS))
And, back hand crosscourt.
((Rebecca Crouch-Pelham, President, Washington Tennis and Education Foundation (WTEF) ))
Ironically, the goals for the organization have changed over time. It started off as the Washington Tennis Patrons, and then it transitioned into the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation, as the group of individuals who, kind of, founded the organization, saw a need for this type of work for inner city schools and kids who live in inner city. So, over time, it actually transformed to what we have today, which is an organization that provides a rare combination of tennis and education to underserved communities in D.C.
((NATS))
((Audra Bell, Washington Tennis and Education Foundation (WTEF) ))
A lot of times we go get them from school and bring them here. They do half their time doing homework and they spend time with tutors.
((Courtesy still: Washington Tennis and Education Foundation))
((Audra Bell, Washington Tennis and Education Foundation (WTEF) ))
We have a robotics program, a girls’ group. The kids are transformed whenever they commit and they learn discipline and they learn mental toughness and all the things that tennis teaches you as a whole. It’s really amazing to see.
((NATS))
((Rebecca Crouch-Pelham, President, Washington Tennis and Education Foundation (WTEF) ))
You’re on the court. You’re playing singles. You’re by yourself. You’re relying on yourself. That is absolutely the exact same stamina and kind of resilience that our kids need in the classroom. We use it as the hook. They love it. They come everyday. They play tennis, but we also expect them to excel academically. We also have two pros here that grew up in the program and now they work here full time as tennis coaches.
((NATS))
Beautiful! Ebony, and you’ve been complaining about that serve?
((NATS))
((Mike Ragland, Director, Washington Tennis and Education Foundation (WTEF) ))
I was doing things I shouldn’t have been doing, got myself in a lot of trouble. When I started playing tennis, it gave me a different path to life.
((NATS))
Dante, watch that ball.
((Mike Ragland, Director, Washington Tennis and Education Foundation (WTEF) ))
When they called and said that they were building this facility, they wanted someone to come back that came up through the program. I wanted to give back. We take the kids in. We talk to the kids about life, how to carry themselves, how to behave, and give them a structure, something that they can go forward with.
((NATS))
Oh, yeah!
((Mike Ragland, Director, Washington Tennis and Education Foundation (WTEF) ))
Most of the kids don’t have a male figure in their lives. What I bring to them is like the father figure, like the father of the Center here.
((NATS))
((Xxavir Boone, 12th Grade Program Participant))
It teaches you just to, kind of, push through life. Everyone here is doing very well in school, and that's just all thanks to the tutors and the teachers that we have here.
((NATS))
Looking good! Good.
((Xxavir Boone, 12th Grade Program Participant))
Tennis teaches you not to give up because anything can happen during a match. It’s never, ‘Oh, my opponent has this many points. I can’t come back now.’ That’s not true at all. You can come back from almost any deficit in tennis. So, it teaches you not to give up. Life is one of the hardest things that you’re going to have to go through. So, it’s important to know that, you know, you might be down right now, but you can always pick it up sooner or later.
((NATS))
((PKG)) FOOD & FRIENDS
((Banner: Food and Friends))
((VOA Korean))
((Reporter: Eve Unshin Lee))
((Camera: Sanghoon Lee))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((NATS))
((Wesley Clark, Volunteer, Food & Friends))
Right now, we’re putting together meals for some families, getting ready for deliveries.
((NATS))
((Dan Kaufman, Volunteer, Food & Friends))
I’ve been working here for about 12 years part-time, substitute for the baker when he goes on vacation, and I also, just right now, I’m working just to help keep the volunteers organized.
((NATS))
((Abigail Seiler, Communications Manager, Food & Friends))))
So, this is where we get all of the food organized into different meal plans and then by delivery routes. So, you’ll see these red bags. This is what volunteers would deliver the meals in, keep them nice and cold.
((Courtesy: Food & Friends))
((NATS))
((Carrie Stoltzfus, Executive Director, Food & Friends))
We’re partnering with ‘Amerihealth Caritas DC’, which is a Medicaid provider here in our area, to deliver meals and provide nutrition counseling to their members, people who, you know, are on their insurance plan and who are pregnant. They’re all low-income just by nature of receiving Medicaid. There are income qualifications for that. So, each woman can receive 18 meals per week. Also any children that she has in the household can also receive those meals. We’ve served almost 400 women so far under this program.
((NATS))
((Ashley Hayslip, Registered Dietitian, Food & Friends))
Getting a variety of food is really good for their pregnancy. So, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and just focusing more on like iron, folate, calcium, all those sorts of nutrients too.
((NATS))
((Ashley Hayslip, Registered Dietitian, Food & Friends))
The most expensive ingredient is probably the protein, especially, like the fish, I would say, is the most expensive thing. So, and fruits and veggies in general, getting that 5 servings a day can add up after, and especially if you have a family of multiple children.
((NATS))
((Carrie Stoltzfus, Executive Director, Food & Friends))
You know, we hear different things about how to eat healthy, in particularly when you’re pregnant. That’s really important, and I also think access to healthy food is an issue.
((NATS))
Kitchen crew, we really, really appreciate it. You guys have a great summer, great spring coming, okay, great spring coming.
((NATS))
((Marquis Chambers, Volunteer, Food & Friends))
I didn’t really want to have fun on my spring break. I find this kind of interesting. I’d rather do this, helping the community, rather than go on, like you know, the essentials, Miami-s of the world, traveling. I thought this was pretty cool.
((NATS))
((Carrie Stoltzfus, Executive Director, Food & Friends))
One of many pieces of feedback that we’ve gotten was actually from the mother of a pregnant woman who was receiving our services and she was talking to us about how she wishes that a program like this would’ve been available when she was, you know, struggling with her pregnancy and not having a lot of money, you know, many years ago.
((NATS))
We’re getting down to the end, yay!
((Gale Seiler, Volunteer, Food & Friends))
I just have so much respect for the work this organization does. I think it’s just such a life saver for so many people.
((NATS))
CLOSING ((ANIM))
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SHOW ENDS
