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Keith Harris had a secret when he started school in the U.S. for the first time: he didn't know how to read and write. After falling through the cracks of the educational system in Guyana, he decided to confide in his 9th grade English teacher at his Brooklyn high school. Now a successful and literate high school senior, Keith's story takes us into his journey to literacy.
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Piece Description
Keith Harris had a secret when he started school in the U.S. for the first time: he didn't know how to read and write. After falling through the cracks of the educational system in Guyana, he decided to confide in his 9th grade English teacher at his Brooklyn high school. Now a successful and literate high school senior, Keith's story takes us into his journey to literacy.
Broadcast History
WNYC Morning Edition - December 1, 2008
Transcript
HOST INTRO: Keith Harris is 17 years old and only recently overcame a problem thousands of New York teenagers struggle with: illiteracy. He was raised in Guyana, but his mom sent him to the U.S for 9th grade. When Keith first started at The High School for Global Citizenship in Brooklyn, his teachers thought he was stubborn and resistant to class participation. And he was - because he didn't want them to know he could not read and write.
KEITH: A broken heart by Keith Harris. A broken heart is fill of tears and pain to surf survive without his love his life ain't nothing but dust, my life ain't nothing but...all right start over.
NARRATION: OH MY GOD! I don't like listening back to myself—I keep making mistakes.
KEITH: One more time—A broken heart by Keith Harris.
NARRATION: 2 years ago - I could not read or write. It's easy for me to tell you now, but I spent MOST OF my life hiding...
Read the full transcript
Additional Credits
Kaari Pitkin, Senior Producer
Courtney Stein, Assistant Producer
Marianne McCune, Editor
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Mara Fink
Posted on August 23, 2010 at 06:58 PM | Permalink
Review of "Read a Book"
Keith Harris tells the story of his journey from being completely illiterate when he came to the United States in 9th grade, to being on track to graduate as a 17 year old. Keith does such a wonderful job voicing, it seems like he’s just having a conversation with the listener. I think that he does some of the best voicing I’ve heard on PRX, it was just so emotionally charged, which is really hard when you’re voicing in a booth. He uses sound very effectively to create scenes, from the classroom to basketball practice. The similes he uses throughout the story are beautiful and the fact that he could connect his story to the Miami Heat was very clever. The best part, though, were the scenes with his mom. Keith did such a great job weaving his thoughts with hers, and the closing was beautiful. Kudos on a wonderful story.