(upbeat music begins) - [Shirley] From dumpster diving to pieces of art, we check out the Dupree Gallery.

- [Regina] This program is getting high schoolers interested in making their voices count at the polls.

- [Shirley] Plus the author of I'm Cool Too, shares his inspiration behind his children's book.

And a local program is breaking through barriers to get more teachers in the classroom.

Hey everybody, I'm Regina Mitchell and this is You Oughta Know.

- And I'm Shirley Min, we are so happy to be back in the studio and we begin the show with a story about someone you may already know.

Former Philadelphia sanitation worker turned community activist known as Ya Fav Trashman is out with a children's book.

Terrill Haigler tells me more about I'm Cool Too.

(light music) Terrill Haigler, also known as Ya Fav Trashman met me on a particularly dirty block in North Philly, a block he cleaned up recently.

- As you can see behind me, what child is able to ride their bike on this block?

What person would wake up, walk down this block and feel good about themselves?

Your environment affects you emotionally, mentally, physically.

Once you feel good about where you live, you want to make it better.

- [Shirley] Keeping communities clean and teaching children that sanitation workers do more than just pick up garbage is at the heart of Terrill's First children's book, I'm Cool Too.

- I was a sanitation worker for 14 months and it wasn't until the pandemic that I realized that I was essential.

And I'm pretty sure there's a lot of other people who don't know how essential sanitation workers are.

So I wanted to use this opportunity to shift that narrative and shift that perspective that sanitation workers are cool.

You know the reason the book is called I'm Cool too, is because my kids thought I was corny.

- [Shirley] The characters in the book are modeled after Terrill's Kids.

- Conversations that I had with my children, I transcribed into the book.

In the book, they all go to sleep one night and they wake up in their dreams and they're my new hires, right?

So then in the book, I take them through the whole day of being a sanitation worker and they learn everything and then by the end of the book they're like, okay, this job is pretty awesome.

And it's about teaching children the importance of your sanitation worker, why they are so essential to the community, why you shouldn't litter so that we can start to create in children, environmentally conscious adults.

It's going to take all of us, all of us have to say yes to a clean Philadelphia, that's the only way littering is going to stop.

- $5 Of every book sold will go to the school district of Philadelphia.

Terrill's trying to raise a million dollars, which means he has to sell at least 200,000 books.

Now last I checked, he sold close to 1500.

So he has a long way to go.

And Terrill recently announced he's running for city council promising to push for resources to help clean communities and bring them together.

Terrill hosts regular community cleanups.

To volunteer and learn more about his book, head to yafavtrashman.com.

- One of the biggest problems impacting our children's education is the fact there simply aren't enough teachers, but a local nonprofit is making a breakthrough with a program training today's students to become the educators of tomorrow.

(students cheering) - [Regina] What you're looking at right now are kids enjoying school.

Not Monday through Friday school day school.

No, these classes are on the weekends and during the summer at Germantown Friends in Philadelphia.

It's a program called Breakthrough, which gives a fellowship to college students like Iliana Correa, a senior chemistry major who thought she just might like teaching.

- I wanted to do a teaching fellowship this summer before my senior year, and this was the only program that allowed me to be the teacher in a classroom.

All the other programs were teaching assistants.

You were a glorified counselor, you were there for the fun part, but you weren't there for the actual classroom part of it.

And this was the only program that I found that I was the actual teacher in the classroom, it was me.

I had the support system of my fellow teachers, from instructional coaches and this is what kind of gave me, and I was like, I'm definitely gonna be teacher after this.

Like I'm definitely gonna do this, I wanna do this.

It's fun, it's what I wanna do.

And I fell in love with it.

- [Regina] The national program runs for nine weeks.

College students who apply are given teachers to work with to learn things like lesson planning, PowerPoint and creating handouts for students.

Meanwhile, the students who are seventh through ninth graders and often from middle schools in low income areas are given a little support during a pivotal point of their lives.

- [Laila] A lot of the stuff I'm learning in Breakthrough reflects on what I'm learning I might be like learning in high school, so algebra, like I'm learning in math.

A lot of the stuff that's on my summer work, I'm noticing that because I learned that in Breakthrough, I have a head start with that and I don't feel as confused as if I hadn't been at Breakthrough.

And you'll find ways to like have fun even if there is a learning aspect to it.

- The teachers that are in here, the students, the college students, have brought just so much energy.

And to see this near peer model of college students working with middle school students is really, really special to see those connections being made.

25 years ago, I was a teaching fellow at this site and I was asked like, do you want to be a teacher?

And I was like, there's no way I'm gonna be a teacher.

And now 25 years later, I've been teaching for 20 years after college and this was one of those experiences that was transformative for me in terms of me finding a passion.

And that's sort of the hope is that some of these people who might never have considered education as a profession, that they can see the opportunity, see the joy, the challenge and I think in terms of reflecting and talking with them, a lot of them are wanting to step up into that role and that's really exciting.

(students clapping) (students cheering) [Students]: We are Breakthrough!

- The program is run several times a year, so they're always looking for interested middle school students and college alumni to apply.

And it doesn't matter what your major is currently, you just have to want to try to teach.

For more information you can go to our website.

- WHYY's Pathways to Media Careers Youth Employment Program is giving young people real life experience in organizations in and around Philly.

This next story comes from our summer interns, Gabby Rodriguez and Essie Havercamp who, like the students you'll see in this story, want to use their voices to impact the future.

- [Teenager] Everyone knows more.

I'm too young to make change.

I don't know enough.

Everyone knows more.

I'm too young to make change.

- Educate others, educate others, educate others.

- Your voice is change, your voice is change, your voice is change.

- [Angelique] Youth political power is to me really understanding the impact their voice can have.

My name is Angelique Hinton and I am the executive director of PA Youth Vote.

Voting can be very complicated and overwhelming, so especially for young people, there's a lot of barriers.

So PA Youth Vote works with young people year round to engage them.

- [Rebecca] Basically our role is just to represent students and to talk about the issues that we care about and to be there to advocate for students.

- We then also work with students year round to build voter registration teams in school.

But then we pay students stipends to work along with the teachers, right?

Understand which students are eligible, make sure they're registered, and make sure they have resources when they ask those questions about, well where do I vote?

Or how do I find out who's running?

The voting process for someone who doesn't really know anything about it is completely overwhelming.

- One of the biggest barriers is just a lack of knowledge that you can be involved.

You don't see a lot of policies and curriculums that center around civic engagement and getting involved with your community.

- [Angelique] So for a lot of young people feel like it's not anything that they need to engage in because no one's engaging them.

- [Lisa Jo Epstein] In the beginning of the summer, we started to work with Just Act which is an applied theater nonprofit that works with non-actors using arts based to catalyze dialogue and action planning for real change.

We did a play called How's Your Voice Gonna Matter If You Don't Vote, which they performed on the steps of the Philadelphia school district.

- [Rebecca] Creating theater based off of the issues that we face really allows us an outlet to talk about issues that we care about while also being creative and inviting other people into our space.

- [Zion] Having the ability to really let ourselves be heard with that makes it more equitable in a sense because there is, you know, more of a chance that things that will benefit younger people will be carried on into whatever legislation or court decisions might be enacted.

What's the point of not letting your voice be heard?

How will you expect things to go your way if you're apathetic to things and just let them be the way they are and stay that way?

- Voting can be intimidating, but once it's put in a digestible form, it's so empowering because one more vote makes a huge difference.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] The legal voting age in the United States is 18.

It used to be 21, but young people protested saying if they can be drafted into war at 18, then they should be able to vote at 18.

So the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age.

- [Shirley] Your Democracy is WHYY's newest animated digital series that gives online viewers a look at how the constitution shapes our lives.

Host Gloria Brown Marshall, one of the countries leading constitutional law experts breaks it all down.

Head over to WHYY's YouTube page and subscribe to Your Democracy.

- Art is creative and inspiring, but at Build a Bridge, a local nonprofit, art is a vehicle that's helping people coping with trauma to move towards hope and healing.

- [Anssumane] Music brings communities together, music brings the peace.

(drumming) - My name is Ami Yaris, I work with Build a Bridge International.

Build a Bridge International is an arts and education nonprofit based here in Philadelphia.

It's been around for over 20 years.

It was founded by Dr. Jane Nathan Corman and Dr. Vivian Nicks Early, a psychologist and a musicologist and a music therapist.

They wanted to leverage the power of art making and empower its therapeutic qualities.

(piano playing) - What are you doing?

- Can't you tell?

- [Actress] Well I think so..

I think it should be obvious.

- When we talk about restorative art making, we're talking about helping people find their resilience, helping people strengthen their agency to be able to be more self efficacious in terms of things that they need in life.

The thing that's different about Build a Bridge is that we're not a clinical institution.

We're not trying to medicalize or stigmatize or try to cure people, but we really want to find people's strengths to help them grow and move forward with that.

- And then I'm just saying okay, well.. - [Ami] A lot of people that we work with have been through traumatic experiences.

Trauma takes away possibility.

It takes away what's taking place in front of you.

Art making is an incredible way to help people begin to have a greater sense of agency.

We train our artists to not just look at art for the sake of making art, but how can we empower people's lives and help them see the the power in their own lives.

Today Build a Bridge gets to do public programming, some public programming here in Point Breeze and inviting some of our friends to join us, some of our teaching artists to come and hang out and make some music for the public and bring people in to have a creative experience.

- My name is Anssumane Silla and I'm from Guinea Bissau.

I'm an African dance and drum instructor.

So today I'm here today to share the African culture.

- [Ami] Build a Bridge is hopefully creating a ripple effect that providing a space of love and respect and compassion through art making that helps people navigate the trials of living in Philadelphia and turn some of those trials into victories.

- Want to get involved with Build a Bridge?

Here's their website.

- The Dupree Gallery puts Philadelphia Dumpster Divers and their artistic creations on full display.

(jazz music begins) - In second grade, I decided I was gonna be a famous artist.

I've never wanted to be anything else.

My first art school is Fleischer Art Memorial which is right around the corner and it's really important if you look at me and the big circle of things as a Philadelphia artist.

So my background is painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics and sculpture.

We've had this building since '79 and it's been a gallery since 1982.

For a long time in Philadelphia it was not recognized as a gallery.

There are very few gallery owners that are African American and racism has always been subliminal.

And if you understand the history of America as it relates to art, there's no difference.

And so this gallery became very successful with no real notoriety.

I sold enough artwork in this gallery to put three kids through college and that was based on the quality of the work and this wonderful storefront.

I have always known about the dumpster divers.

It's a melting of the mind, the melting of creativity, they're anarchists and I fit it right in.

So I became a member being it that it's the 30th year, this particular exhibition, I did everything in my power to make it happen.

I would not take no for an answer and I've refused for it not to be successful.

And my goal was to make this show feel like a dumpster divers home.

And they're all very eclectic in a certain kind of way where being less does not work.

Divers believe more is more.

(laughs) - I came into dumpster diving more from a recycling or environmental angle.

I'm like the diver clearing house of CDs.

When people want CDs to do a wall or CDs to do a ceiling or CDs to make a lamp, they pretty much come to me.

And I started making the crosses that are on the wall here.

We started trying to, making these bobbles, I also like to make jewelry out of found objects like these earrings, like this bracelet.

And my husband is an artist.

His work is also here, Bruno Leyal.

And we spend a lot of time going to flea markets.

And for us, trash night is art supply night.

I've admired James' artwork for many, many years and he's been making art out of found objects for a long, long time.

It's a really tightly bonded group.

And our 30th anniversary was coming and James just volunteered to give us a show here at his gallery.

He's a very giving, generous, kind human being because this is a huge amount of work.

- I acted as the coordinator, the curator, and the installer.

So I had a lot of autonomy to do exactly what I wanted.

It's like a painting to me.

I'm putting together a concept.

I'm putting together a thematic approach to certain works.

But if you look around the room, it's very harmonious.

And then by the time you catch up, like you'll look at a wall and say, oh my gosh, everything on that wall reflects off of the piece next to it.

Or the technique they're using is almost similar.

Some people brought in fresh work, but you have some work in here that's 20 years old and maybe older.

This gallery has afforded me the luxury of being very special.

(piano playing) (laughing) - [Regina] SEPTA's 47 bus is more than just a mode of transportation.

For some, it's a celebration of culture and community that brings so many people together.

Here now to talk about the film, Le Gua Gua 47 is the films creator, Alba Martinez.

Welcome to the show Alba.

- Thank you for having me.

- Now, how did you know that you wanted to do a film about the Route 47 bus?

- So this is a personal story that happened to me in 1985.

When I first came to the city, I was really interested in finding the Latino community.

I knew there was one, but I couldn't find it.

People would tell me they didn't know where it was, don't go there, we don't even know if there is one.

And then one day I found out about the 47 bus.

I got a phone book in the mail and I made a phone call to what I thought would be a Latino organization.

And somebody on the other end of the line said, you have to get on the 47 bus and come up here right now and you're gonna get to the Latino community.

So that changed my life.

That ride literally made me feel at home.

It made me belong.

And my life took an incredible trajectory from a professional standpoint and community service.

And about 35 years later, I wrote a song about that experience because I was feeling the need to belong again.

And after I got the, you know, the positive response that I did about the song and realized that other people were feeling the same way about both the bus and the desire to belong, I decided to make a film about it.

- And what's really interesting is that for a long time you were serving your community as a lawyer and you thought this is the best way to impact people.

But apparently you have other talents that can also help.

- Yeah, well I think that you can help people in any way, right?

Any career, no matter where you are, can be a socially impactful career.

But I spent the last 13 years of my life in corporate America.

It was an incredible experience.

But towards the end of that I decided I wanted to come back and serve my community once again.

And when I talk about my community, I think about the Latino community, but I also think about the city of Philadelphia.

A city that I love and I consider my home.

And I was called to do it through art and culture.

I think that art, the arts and culture are an incredible platform for bringing people together, for change and for healing.

And I believe that's tremendously underutilized, especially in the context of a city like ours that is incredibly full of talent and culture.

- And you brought so many people together in the film to make this.

Tell us a little bit about some of the people that we see in the film.

- That, there's a lot of magic in this project, but one of the most magical parts of it is that we had over by the end of of filming, we had over 300 people touch this project in one way or another.

And it was a combination of, of artists, many, many artists from all different Latino backgrounds and some non-Latino and community members again, from many, many different backgrounds.

We had fashion designers, we had makeup artists, we had choreographers, we had professional dancers, we had community dancers, we had filmmakers, we had media strategists, a lot of people involved.

We had people who helped us identify the sites in the community that would be the best ones to film.

And we had an incredible muralist that I'm sure that everybody recognized it is no small feat to decorate a SEPTA bus.

- [Regina] Yeah.

- [Alba] And to make sure that nothing falls off while it's running through the city.

We had the muralist, Cesar Viveros so just, just amazing people.

- [Regina] When people watch this film, what do you want them to walk away with?

What do you want the takeaway to be for them?

- [Alba] I want them to want to get to know who is Pedro Escarsega, the filmmaker?

Who is Julio Dosavlla, that fashion designer?

Who is Ashley Rivera the singer?

Who is the dancer?

Who is Lil Gruber, the singer?

Who is the choreographer Christina Castro-Tauser?

Who are these individuals?

I would like people that are so talented in our community, like those to get more visibility and more recognition.

I also would like people to wanna come into the Latino community and see it the way we see it because it is a community full of magic and full of beauty and full of love and warmth.

And I think it sometimes goes unnoticed.

So we wanna, we wanna break with that, with the narrative that I think sometimes it's not very flattering of the Latino community and replace that with a narrative of beauty and love and warmth.

- Well Alba, thank you so much for being here.

You've given us so much information and I'm sure this is not the last we will hear of La Gua Gua 47.

And if you would like to see the film for yourself, here's how you can view it.

- Small actions can make big impacts.

A local woman's kind gesture is proving that.

- We caught up with her during one of her missions, The Happy Flower Day Project.

- [Patricia] I began the flower project in May of 2013.

My mother had been sick and I went to stay with her.

One of my daughters suggested that we ask grocery stores if they had day old flowers.

And we found a couple of stores that said yes.

And so we found something fun to do every day.

We would go from Chaffon to Philadelphia, pick up at least a hundred flowers a day, and then just random acts of flowers all over Philadelphia.

I never have a plan of where I'm going to take the flowers.

I think it's kind of like divine guidance.

I'll pass a nursing home and I think, oh I'm not gonna go there.

But then something says, no, turn around and go back there.

The first nursing home that I went to and I walked in and I said, Hi, I'm Patricia Gallagher, I was wondering if you have any people that would like flowers.

And they said, What organization are you with?

I said, The Happy Flower Day Project.

It just came out and they said, Are you the executive director?

And I said, oh yes, I'm the director.

So now I'm in.

And they took me into a large room where all these people in wheelchairs were just kind of sitting down with their heads like that.

And my mother just started singing, Happy Flower Day to you, to the tune of Happy Birthday, Happy Flower Day to, and then they were all singing it.

And then she added may the good Lord bless you.

And all of a sudden these people seemed to awaken and they were all holding these beautiful flowers.

So we were hooked once we did it that way.

That was almost our signature song and signature way of doing something.

When the tent city was down by the art museum, that was one of my favorite places to go once a week.

I would just pull up to the curb and we would just take them from tent to tent.

And everybody that you give them to, they'd ask, can I have an extra one for my friend that has cancer?

I'd like to give one to the Meals on Wheels lady.

They always ask so they can pay it forward and give it to someone else.

But even on the days that maybe we didn't feel like going, it was raining, it was snowing or something, we went because we knew that when we got there and picked up the flowers, we would feel so happy.

- [William] Flowers are so special that that the writers make many, many poems about them and there's something special about flowers.

- It makes me feel very happy.

And it makes you feel good that someone else is thinking about you.

- [Patricia] You give a smile, you get a smile, you give a hug, you get a hug.

You can never have a bad day when you're the flower lady.

- What a nice way to make someone's day.

- Really.

And some of the ideas and suggestions are simple, but like, easy to overlook - You just forget to think about those things I know.

- So like one suggestion contact an animal shelter and ask if your child can volunteer.

My kids would love that.

- Oh my goodness.

- Right?

- My kids want a pet.

This is a great way to do that.

- Yeah, so we don't have to get a pet.

- No.

- Or leave a treat and thank you note for your mail carrier or your delivery truck driver.

I mean, incredible.

- Yeah.

- Okay, so one thing nice you can do, pick up Patricia's book and make a difference in your community.

But we want to thank you for making our day by tuning in.

We will see you next week.

- Goodnight everybody.

- Bye.