Today we spoke with
Jason Connors, who just returned to the United States on November 8 after
serving 27 months in the Peace Corps in the South Pacific island of Tonga.
Jason is a native San
Diegan, who for over 20 years has worked onstage and offstage at local theatres
as an actor, playwright, director, composer, sound designer, and musician. He
has received awards from San Diego Theatre Critics Circle, KPBS, and San Diego
Playbill for his acting and original plays. In 2013, after graduating from
UCSD, Jason took a break from theatre and quit his day job as a teacher's aid
in a classroom which serves students with developmental disabilities, and
joined the Peace Corps with his companion, Emily Merchant. In the Kingdom of
Tonga, they worked at a primary school teaching English and collaborating with
local counterparts to increase "student-centered" teaching practices.
During his time in the
Peace Corps, he and Emily helped develop new, easy-to-read English literacy
books that were about Tongan life, illustrated by local artists. Jason also
started a reading program in the nation's capital at one of the country's only
public libraries which saw attendance and library visits quadruple since the
program began. Jason's experience in the Peace Corps was an extension of a core
belief in the goodness and generosity of all people and his desire to build
community: a community of theatre-goers, a community of readers, a community of
peaceful and thoughtful humanity.
To hear today's show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/freedomforall/2015/12/04/guest-jason-connors
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