To Crescenciana Tan, family meant everything. After years of labor in the Philippines, she came to the U.S. to help raise her grandchildren, who called her Lola. Using StoryCorps Connect, her grandson, Kenneth, told his mother Olivia about the greatest lesson Lola taught him.

On January 28, 1986, NASA Challenger mission STS-51-L ended in tragedy when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. On board was physicist Ronald E. McNair, who was the second African American to enter space. But first, he was a kid with big dreams in Lake City, South Carolina.

“You know, it’s the little things that you do day in and day out that I admired for the last 8 years. I don’t think you can find a better person to be friends with.” Every week, Herman Travis loads up a heavy shopping cart full of groceries from a food bank to bring to elderly neighbors in a low-income housing complex. Over time, he’s become close with the residents, including Robert Cochran. Together they came to StoryCorps to talk about how meaningful this weekly gesture has become to them both.

Allen Hoe was as a combat medic in Vietnam. His oldest son, Nainoa K. Hoe, served as a first lieutenant infantry officer with the Army’s 3rd Battalion in Iraq. In January 2005, while leading his men through Mosul, Iraq, Nainoa was killed by sniper fire. He was 27. On Memorial Day in 2005, Allen traveled from Hawaii to Washington, D.C. for an event honoring Army nurses returning home from the war. He remembers meeting the Army nurse who had cared for his son after he had been shot and killed during combat in Mosul, Iraq.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Director of Microbiology Dr. Roberto Vargas worked long hours running tests at a hospital in Rochester, New York. Because of the risk of exposure, he made the difficult decision to isolate himself from his wife, Susan, and their four young kids. At the time of this conversation, he was living in the basement of their home. Using StoryCorps Connect, Dr. Vargas spoke virtually with his wife Susan and their 10-year-old son Xavier about the toll that this setup has taken on them, and the ways they have come together as a family despite the distance.

Guide learners through research-based strategies for active processing as they view, read, or experience something new.

Trey Devey, President of Interlochen Center for the Arts, reads the book Gloria's Big Problem. The episode focuses on learning about being a performing arts star and about how "shooting for the stars" means believing you can do anything and then working really hard to achieve it.

The episode discusses some potential careers, including some you may never have thought about, and talks about having the courage to participate in something that others may not like, or worse, may make fun of you for and about how we can grow to our individual, unique and special potential.

The episode explores the subject of plants, while also using plants and how they never sit still as a way to talk about how we keep our communities moving forward and help residents stay active and engaged in making the places they call home even better each and every day.

The co-founder of GoSili, which makes environmentally-friendly cups and straws, Stacey Feeley visits City Opera House to read the book Garbage or Recycling. The episode explores engineering and how engineers figure out how things work and find practical uses for scientific discoveries.

The episode discusses some potential careers, including some you may never have thought about, and talks about having the courage to participate in something that others may not like, or worse, may make fun of you for and about how we can grow to our individual, unique and special potential.

Pediatrician and Chief Medical Officer for Munson Healthcare, Dr. Christine Nefcy, reads the book Community Helpers Then and Now. The episode focuses on learning about how everyday heroes worked in the past and how they continue to make our lives better today.

Michele Howard reads the book The Great Lakes. The episode's activity is led by Tara Gang, an elementary art teacher at Traverse City Area Public Schools, and focuses on researching some interesting facts about a favorite lake and then designing and building a map to represent the body of water.

Host Ben Whiting serves as guest reader in the season opening episode that explores concepts related to flight. The episode focuses on learning about the things that feathers do for birds beyond helping them to fly. The featured book is Feathers Not Just for Flying.

Originally performed by the Interlochen Arts Academy for Valentines Day, this ballet adaptation of the famous play is now available [...]

Wimee and team sing, wonder, and play about our five senses!

Wimee and team explore things that are pink through songs, stories, and games!

Learn all about the letter X and learn two new high-frequency words.

Learn about communities and citizenship and learn some new high frequency words.

Spelling with the -ed suffix and lunar eclipses.

Learn more about how you can be a world changer, and more about syllables.

The letter Q and the qualities of a good leader.

Doing word work and "How do citizens shape our community? "

Learn about the -ed suffix and about our round world.

Read words with many different syllable types and learn how to be a world changer.

Wimee learns all about a robotics club with Kammi; Language Explorers teach us that “robot” is very similar in six languages; and Ms. Lisa from Kent District Library shares a book about making a friend.

Wimee powers up with Miss Jessica and learns the benefits of laughter; on Kid Chat, Kareem tells us about his essay contest experience; Miss Sienna with Ventura County Library shares a book that makes her laugh; and Language Explorers translate laughter into six languages.

Wimee and friends share things they are proud of; Brody interviews his grandpa about wheelchair basketball; Ms. Joyanne from Kent District Library shares a book about learning to whistle; and on Kid Chat, Elias shares his miniature skateboard park.

Wimee’s friend Nancy at FitKids360 shows us how to make a feelings bottle using sand; Ms. Heidi at Muskegon Area District Library shares information about the different colors of sand; and Ms. Lisa from Kent District Library shares a book about the ocean and sandcastles.

Learn all about the letter U and read a story about a wolf mom and her pups.

Read a fun story about a girl who is called Mean Jean the Recess Queen. Then try a word ladder with long and short a and i words.

Learn about timelines and spelling words with -ing endings.

Read words with the -le ending, and read about inventing the stoplight.

Wimee and friends write a Three Sentence Story, illustrated by Brody on the Wimage board; ScribbleJim and Sparky play a learning game with locks and keys; Ms. Basya from Los Angeles Public Library shares a book about the zoo; and Nikhil teaches us how to make an oversized shiny key!

Learn all about the letter M and practice building words.

Learn about community helpers and how to be an active citizen in your community. Then, write an opinion piece.

Learn about schools of the past and today, and learn about the -ing ending.

Read words with the -le ending.

Wimee shares a book about Michigan and a dream about Spaghetti Pickle Pie; Moby teaches us about pickling; Language Explorers translate pickle into six languages; and ScribbleJim sings a song about the imaginary grocery store with help from Wimee and friends.

Wimee sings about animal sounds; Language Explorers translate cat into six languages; ScribbleJim and Baby Bumblebee sing a silly song about cat food; Mr. Phillip from Ventura County Library shares a book about cats; and Ms. Joyanne from Kent District Library introduces Cocoa and Fifi.

Wimee’s friends, Vivian and Queenie, sing about potluck; Brody shares secret recipes; Language Explorers share potluck in six languages; Cailynn bakes cookies for her birthday; Wimee and friends play Number Crunching; and Ms. Donna from Los Angeles Public Library shares a book about dumpling day.

Wimee sings a song and writes a story with help from his friends; Lucy translates words into Spanish; ScribbleJim sings a song about yellow things; Miss Cherry from Ventura County Library shares a book about the sun; and our friend 123 Andres sings a song in Spanish about the color yellow!

Travel with host Justin Rogers as we meet young people throughout Michigan who use poetry to empower themselves and their communities.

Wimee sings a song about twos; Mr. Brad from Kent District Library teaches us numbers in Swahili; Ms. Joanna from Los Angeles Public Library shares a book about being “two-gether”; and in our Math Moment we find pairs with Karsen.

Wimee learns about clapping and circulation with Miss Jessica; Ms. Stephanie teaches us how to sign “applause” in ASL; Ms. Joyanne from Kent District Library shares a book about clapping; and during That’s So Cool, Wimee’s friends share an igloo they made!

Wimee learns to sign “soup” in ASL with Ms. Stephanie; Nancy from FitKids360 teaches us about My Plate; Ms. Lisa from Kent District Library shares a book about vegetable soup; Wimee and friends play the Number Crunching game; and Wimee gets ideas from his friends to write a soup song!

Wimee and friends write a story about a chair; Ms. Stephanie signs “chair” in ASL; ScribbleJim, Sparky, Laina and Baby Bumblebee play musical chairs; Ms. Sharon from Ventura County Library shares a book about chairs; and Cailynn interviews Wimee’s Neighbor, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Hamilton.

Learn all about the letter K and learn about being an active citizen in your community.

Read a new informational book about how you can be an active citizen in your community, and learn some new high frequency words.

Learn about verbs and the -es ending.