Author: Teresa Wills

Teresa is the host of West Virginia Morning and Morning Edition, heard Monday-Friday from 6 a.m.-9 a.m. When she’s not on the air, Teresa produces the traffic logs used by radio hosts for the program schedule, promos and donor announcements. She also does some voice promotion work on our television channels. Teresa grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia and graduated from West Virginia State University with a degree in Communications.

Reviving Vocational Education

Reviving Vocational EdReady to Work: Reviving Vocational Ed Airs Monday night at 8 p.m. on West Virginia Public Radio
Credit Emily Hanford

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Vocational education was once a staple of American schooling, preparing some kids for blue-collar futures while others were put on a path to college. Today that kind of tracking smacks of classism. “College for all” is the new mantra. But not everyone wants to go to college, and nearly half of jobs don’t require a bachelor’s degree. Many experts say it’s time to bring career and technical education back. This American RadioWorks documentary explores how vocational education has changed and how it’s re-shaping debates about the purpose of school.  Tune in Monday night at 8 p.m.

How Universities Are Adapting to the New Student

  The 21st Century college student is likely to be older than traditional students.  She’s more likely to be female, working and Hispanic or African-American. She’s more likely to be a mom. She’s less likely to attend college full time or finish in four years. This American RadioWorks documentary explores how universities are adapting to their new students. We visit Amherst College, a leader among elite schools in recruiting and serving non-traditional students. We see how the University of Texas-El Paso, where most undergraduates are Hispanic and low-income, is becoming a top-tier research university. And we travel to a tiny college on an Indian reservation in eastern Washington that is trying to bring liberal arts to migrant farm workers.

Listen Monday night at 8 p.m. for American RadioWorks:  The New Face of College.

The Challenge of the Common Core

There’s plenty of controversy surrounding the Common Core, a new set of education standards adopted by most states. Getting less attention is what the standards actually say, and the fact that many teachers like them. This American RadioWorks documentary takes listeners into classrooms to explore how the standards are changing teaching and learning. Many teachers say those changes are desperately needed, but some are worried about new Common Core tests and whether they will help improve schools or get in the way of better education.

Tune in Monday night at 8 p.m. for Greater Expectations:  The Challenge of the Common Core, on West Virginia Public Radio.

The Science of Smart

Until recently, we didn’t know much about the best ways to learn. Now that’s changing. Over recent decades, experts working in cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience have opened new windows into how the brain works, and how we can learn to learn better. In this American RadioWorks program, we look at some of the big ideas coming out of brain science. We meet the researchers who are unlocking the secrets of how the brain acquires and holds on to knowledge. And we introduce listeners to the teachers and students who are trying to apply that knowledge in the real world.

Listen to this new documentary series from American RadioWorks, on West Virginia Public Radio beginning Monday, September 8th at 8 p.m.

Why Does Music Move Us?

The Really Big Questions–Why Does Music Move us Thursday night at 9 p.m. on West Virginia Public Radio
 

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Music exists in every culture. Does that mean it offers an evolutionary advantage? What drives humans to make music? And why does music get so deeply embedded into our lives? We’ll delve deeper into what music can teach us about the human brain – with musicians and researchers including:

  • Jazz guitarist Pat Martino who lost his memory after neurosurgery and re taught himself how to play.
  • Neuroscience researcher Psyche Loui at Wesleyan University who studies chills and strongly emotional responses to intense anesthetic experiences like music.
  • Petr Janata from the Center for the Mind and the Brain at U.C. Davis who is interested in how we “groove” to music, the pleasurable urge to move that’s elicited by music.
  • Steven Pinker, linguist and evolutionary psychologist who is famous for the line that music is not an evolutionary adaptation but “auditory cheesecake.

Learn more about what music can teach us Thursday night at 9 p.m. on West Virginia Public Radio.

Hawaii: The Legacy of Sugar

For many Americans, Hawaii is a tropical playground, the place of surf, sun and dream vacations. Behind the tourist façade, though, is one of the most unique multicultural states in the nation, one still dealing with the complicated legacy of the circumstances under which it become part of this country. And so much of how Hawaii is now comes back to one game-changing element: sugar. For decades, long before it was a tourist’s paradise, what Hawaii did was grow sugar. That was not only its economic driver, it was a force that remade the place. In this episode of State of the Re:Union, we’ll explore the way contemporary Hawaii is still navigating the legacy of the sugar plantations now in the 21st century.

Tune in for this a different look at Hawaii Thursday night at 9 p.m. on West Virginia Public radio.

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