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When it comes to college, students of color in Minnesota face longer odds than their white peers. Less than half of students of color graduate from high school on time. Fewer than five percent get a bachelor’s degree from a Minnesota college within ten years of their freshman year in high school.
The TRiO program is trying to improve those statistics. TRiO’s a federal program that targets low-income and first generation students and helps them get into college. It grew out of the War on Poverty in the 1960’s. In Minnesota, about 15-thousand students now participate.
As part of Minnesota Public Radio’s youth radio series, Mara Kumagai (KOO-mah-guy) Fink of St. Olaf College, brings us the story of one TRiO student.
Also in the MPR News' Youth Series series
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Bullying in schools through the eyes of teens
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Grace Pastoor, a high school junior in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, interviewed students about how they see bullying and whether they think adults can do anything about it.
Coming of age "illegal"
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When Brenda was 7, she was carried across the border from Mexico. Now 19, the Minneapolis teen wishes she could live and work legally in the country she considers home.
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Mara Kumagai Fink explores her family's experiences in the internment camps during WWII. Mara spent the summer interviewing family members and revisiting the camps with them. ...
Picked in 3rd grade, dreaming bigger at graduation
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In 2001, Tiara Bellaphant became part of an experiment. Third graders at seven low-performing Minneapolis and St. Paul schools were offered mentoring and college scholarships ...
Life without mom
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Death makes the news. Grief doesn't. When Judy Ojeda, a public health worker, died last October, she left behind a husband and six kids. Her oldest son, 16-year-old Antonio ...
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A 15-year-old delegate to the United States Senate Youth Program records her reactions to the nation's capitol and meeting a Supreme Court Judge and the President of the ...
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Gay and lesbian teens are at greater risk of homelessness than their straight peers. Roy Lee Spearman Jones tells his story of being young, gay and homeless in Minneapolis.
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How a mother's skiing accident changed a family's life and offered lessons to her daughters.
Graduating Homeless
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A surprising story about staying in school and graduating while homeless.
Piece Description
When it comes to college, students of color in Minnesota face longer odds than their white peers. Less than half of students of color graduate from high school on time. Fewer than five percent get a bachelor’s degree from a Minnesota college within ten years of their freshman year in high school.
The TRiO program is trying to improve those statistics. TRiO’s a federal program that targets low-income and first generation students and helps them get into college. It grew out of the War on Poverty in the 1960’s. In Minnesota, about 15-thousand students now participate.
As part of Minnesota Public Radio’s youth radio series, Mara Kumagai (KOO-mah-guy) Fink of St. Olaf College, brings us the story of one TRiO student.
Broadcast History
MPR News
Intro and Outro
INTRO:When it comes to college, students of color in Minnesota face longer odds than their white peers. Less than half of students of color graduate from high school on time. Fewer than five percent get a bachelor’s degree from a Minnesota college within ten years of their freshman year in high school.
The TRiO program is trying to improve those statistics. TRiO’s a federal program that targets low-income and first generation students and helps them get into college. It grew out of the War on Poverty in the 1960’s. In Minnesota, about 15-thousand students now participate.
As part of Minnesota Public Radio’s youth radio series, Mara Kumagai (KOO-mah-guy) Fink of St. Olaf College, brings us the story of one TRiO student:
OUTRO:



