WGBH Radio; The Callie Crossley Show

I'm Cally Crossley This is the Cali Crossley Show. Today we'll meet three men whose innovations are solving old problems. We begin with the U.S. post office once a multibillion dollar revenue business. It's now in financial ruin. An MIT lecturer says it's time the post office pushed the envelope go electric. And rebooted itself by capitalizing on e-mail. From there we meet a 28 year old principal who's reclaiming the classroom using community involvement and positive thinking to turn around one of the state's lowest performing schools. Then it's off to Central Falls Rhode Island. Last year the city filed for bankruptcy. But in the 18th and 19th century it was a chocolate manufacturing Mecca. One local is aiming to recall that era selling chocolate bars made in Central Falls. The proceeds will go back into the city. Up next the innovation hour from thinking outside the mailbox to raising the chocolate bar. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi saying Syria has

dominated the discussion at the U.N. Security Council today about the uprisings in the Arab world. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged the council to show some resolve. As NPR's Michele Kelemen explains Secretary-General Ban says the Syrian military has been using disproportionate force against civilians. He calls that shameful at this critical juncture even to be essential for the caller to speak with one voice. And I hope the council can find its way towards a consensus resolution that sends a signal of strong resort's ban is urging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to respond in the next couple of days to the proposals that former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan brought to Damascus over the weekend to stop the violence and begin a political dialogue. Michele Kelemen NPR News Washington. The Taliban are calling for revenge after a U.S. soldier allegedly went on a shooting rampage in two southern Afghanistan villages yesterday killing 16 civilians including children. The service member reportedly turned himself in to U.S.

authorities a Washington investigates the U.S. embassies warning U.S. citizens in Afghanistan about the possibility of reprisal attacks. This comes weeks after protests erupted over Qur'an burnings at a U.S. base. Security forces and government offices are again among the targets of insurgent attacks in Iraq just as the country prepares to host a meeting of the Arab world's leaders. At least 14 people were killed in the latest attacks. The Republican presidential candidates are pouring money and time into Alabama and Mississippi in advance of tomorrow's primaries. From member station WABE in Birmingham Tanya Ott has a preview of the possibly decisive southern showdown Alabamians aren't used to getting so much attention especially in a primary. But there are 47 delegates up for grabs in Alabama. So in the past week Newt Gingrich Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney have all visited they've poured millions of dollars into advertising here. Still independent voter Joe Nash says he's undecided. I hate to say it but Mr. Gingrich is kind of controversial so is Mr. Santorum. I

hate to go to default with who's a less controversial right now. I think it might be Mr. Romney Gingrich and Santorum are scheduled to appear at a candidates forum in downtown Birmingham tonight. Romney and Ron Paul are also invited. Analysts say a win for Romney could catapult him to the nomination. But so far Santorum has fared better with the South's conservative voters. For NPR News I'm Tanya Ott in Birmingham. March Madness has arrived number one seeds are Kentucky Syracuse North Carolina and Michigan State. The tournament of 68 teams gets underway Tuesday night in Dayton Ohio. U.S. stocks mixed with the Dow up twenty seven points to twelve thousand nine hundred forty nine Nasdaq down a to twenty nine eighty S&P 500 down two. This is NPR News. Good afternoon from the WGBH radio Newser in Boston I'm Judy you will with some of the local stories that we're following. State Treasurer Steven Grossman has named Zuniga to the commission that will oversee the state's casino gambling law. Zuniga is the third person to be appointed to the five member panel which will have broad powers to select bidders for

resort casino licenses and to regulate the gaming industry in Massachusetts. He's currently the executive director of the Massachusetts water pollution abatement trust and has previously served in management positions with Ernst and Young and The Boston Housing Authority. Closing arguments are set for tomorrow in the trial of two men charged with murdering four people including a 2 year old boy and Matt upin in 2010. Prosecutors called scores of witnesses as they build their case against Dwayne Moore and Edward Washington. The Boston Globe reports the defense called just three witnesses before resting its case today. The two men have pleaded not guilty to all charges. Their attorneys told jurors the wrong men are on trial. Police transmissions from an incident in which case university student and Easton native Danroy Henry Jr. was killed by a New York police officer include repeated shouts of shots fired an officer down. The recording start with a report of a fight at a bar in suburban New York. And quickly escalate in tone as officers call in a pleasant fellow officer Aaron Hass shot Henry through the windshield of Henry's car

has said he was hit by the car and thrown onto the hood and he had to fire to stop the vehicle. Henry's family has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in the 2010 death of their son. The Celtics are hoping to put one in the win column against the L.A. Clippers tonight. Well have sunshine today highs in the 60s possibly all the way up to 70. Clouds and showers overnight lows in the 40s right now it's 64 degrees in Boston. Support for NPR comes from Carnegie Corporation of New York. A foundation created to do what Andrew Carnegie calls real and permanent good celebrating 100 years of philanthropy. I'm Judy you'll you'll find more news at WGBH news dot org. Good afternoon I'm Kelly Crossley. Today we're talking to people who are using innovation to save as storage institution a school and a city. We're kicking things off with the U.S. Postal Service once a multibillion dollar revenue business. It's now in financial ruin. To cut costs they slice jobs and shuttered post offices.

My guest Dr. Shiva Durai says there's a better way to save this ailing institution. Dr. Ira Durai is a lecturer in biological engineering and Comparative Media studies at MIT and the director of the MIT e-mail lab. He holds the first copyright in e-mail. Thank you for joining us here nice to be here. So how does a guy who's dealt with mail but of the digital kind become interested in the U.S. Postal Service. It's a great question. But I think the answer to that question will actually hopefully eliminate people understand why the postal service should be involved in e-mail. So if you look at when I created email as a system back in 1988 when I was 14 there was a primary focus of that system which was to really create the electronic version of the inner office paper or postal mail system. And this singular focus our understanding of that has been forgotten over the last 30 years. But if we go back to that history at that time in Newark New Jersey at the University of Medicine and

Dentistry as in many institutions people had this way that paper mail and postal mail was distributed. You know people would there was an inbox outbox folders. There was the actual memo and it had to get from point A to Point B. And that was the inner office postal mail system and the e-mail. System that I created was to actually emulate all the metaphors of that. So when you really think about it email was a postal mail system in electronic format. And when we understand that it's absolutely clear that the post office should have owned email a long time ago and the reason they didn't was in the last 30 years there was a lot of confusion of the term email associated with text messaging blogs bulletin boards run by a lot of wrong history. So part of the Postal Service key opportunities if they understand email is mail. But in this electronic version you open up all these incredible opportunities for revenue generation and also protection of citizens which I'll talk about later that the post office should embrace e-mail as its primary and historical civic function.

So for those people are saying oh I thought I knew a little history about email I thought there was Arpanet. You know what Who's this guy talking about. Well ARPAnet was a messaging system as you've explained you all the copyright to the term email and the concept and you created the to and from as you've just described So you were moving from him creating email as you know it and conceived it from just messaging to really communicating in the way that you've just described. And I want to clarify that because there's been some vitriol and animosity recently about my claim to the invention of email but to be absolutely clear prior to 1998 and post that there's there was this term called electronic messaging which was essentially moving. An electronic message from point A to Point B and that predates not only my work but even electronic messaging going back to telegraph and morse code. When I use the word email it's the interoffice postal mail system the electronic version with all the features we see in G-mail Hotmail Yahoo. It's the platform it's the

editor. The gooey the database the inbox outbox of folders what ARPAnet was doing was transporting messages and not the user interface not the database that is email as we use it today. It's the electronic version of that in our office postal mail system. The transport mechanism of electronic messaging that shows up in many places shows up NSA massive shows up in chat it shows up in Twitter. It shows up in a number of places like that so you can in fact characterize it as short messaging you know which is essentially like s m s Twitter. The sticky note if you think about it urban smoke signals those are short messages. The community messages more things like blogs and online bulletin boards are a cave paintings even or the bulletin board at Whole Foods or some of the shopping centers. And then you get into the intimate message which is like a pirate's the letter and email that's where email fits into it. So it's a very different class of messaging. And what I built was a platform to support that. And just so people are interested in this you donated your original code to the Smithsonian so

you are the guy. So here we are with you who've always thought about this in the way that you've just described. A new way of doing this but based on the old way it's so simple to just think of you as the digital man Mister in my e-mail lab and the Post Office is cut some kind of you know when the country was founded. Old fogy system it's not quite that simple. Or is it. Well I think that I think the issue is what's occurred historically when e-mail when I you know did you know as a project it wasn't to make money on it. You know it's something I did as a wonderful project and the opportunity to do it in Newark New Jersey where people would never think innovation takes place. You know innovation is only supposed to be owned by Silicon Valley in tech Square. But it can occur any place any time by anybody even a 14 year old kid Now having said that the way that e-mail evolved was being associated with these other terms from a digital perspective. But from my point of view e-mail was the electronic system. You know it was mail in electronic format. So as such when you look at it that

way. The post office I believe must own e-mail because right now every time each one of us gets a free email service we don't bother to read all the privacy notices. We are essentially giving up away our freedom and our privacy to the G-mail of the world. No kidding every one of my emails being read and processed analyzed the postal service if you go look at it. A whole body of law was developed to protect mail tampering to protect our privacy and email should be a civic function and it's the responsibility of the post office to own it. Otherwise we're going to have it let's say at some point we need to fight our government in this country. What will happen if email gets shut down if you think about what happened in Arab Spring overnight Vodafone a private company shut off that entire text messaging system. And this is the fundamental issue that we face. If the USPS goes down it's in many ways it's a huge attack on democracy. And email is a way out of this by the USPS owning it and offering it as a service. So you make some interesting points about why the system as it's set

up has the foundation to just move right in. Exactly. So talk to us about this. Yes if you think about if you go look at the history of the postal service and I'm not a detailed historian Richard John by the way is going to be speaking to the communication form he knows more about it than I do but. If you look at it when the Postal Service came about it was right at that inflection point when we had the founding fathers fighting for freedom and the postal system was set as a connective tissue to support the infrastructure of democracy. That's where it comes from. And that infrastructure offered all of us the ability to send a communication from one point to another regardless of our capabilities or ability was a very low cost model. And that basically speaks to the point Not everything needs to be based on a profit motive. There are certain institutions like the water system the highway system and the e-mail system which should be a civic function and I believe that every citizen once they really understand what's going on with their email even though I created the first email system I'm speaking on behalf of the public now that every email is being monitored analyzed and in

secure in many ways that that should be owned by the postal service because there's a whole body of law that was developed for protecting mail so in many ways the USPS is sort of a hop skip and jump away from actually protecting our email far more than the private companies are. And I also set up as you pointed out there they do sorting and they do a ranging and they do that kind of. Organization that we could benefit from. That's right. I mean the other you're going to I mean Want Some of the articles I've written if you fundamentally look at what the Postal Service says they receive e-mail they sort it they process it and they transmit it and it's done in a very local community environment the local postman is someone we actually trust we trust their service they have this trusted brand. Now over the last 30 to 40 years that brand has been literally gutted by very large private interest they've essentially taken off the best pieces of that which are all funded by public monies U.P.S. DHL Fed-Ex. And what they've done is they've taken the best piece of then they've left sort of the spoils two to a set of

people who are absolutely abused in that in the way in terms the way they're use over monetary tracked in terms of their work hours and then we're told to believe that the U.S. Postal Service is not working when the reason it's not working was it was actually gutted out of it and and from a vision standpoint the leadership never had the vision to embrace email because they fundamentally didn't know what e-mail was they thought it was text messaging. They thought it was Arpanet but it's not that it's the email that if you go back to what I created in 78 it's that platform the postal mail system in electronic format. So one of the other things that you've written that I thought was interesting is that. Mr. Donahue Whoa. Q Who is the post master at the moment is a very good manager. But he's managing a system that's though foundationally could be built upon in the way that you've said is old fashioned in the way it's operating right now for what the needs are of the 21st century American citizens. And what is needed at leadership if not at the top is certainly

somewhere else in middle management are people who understand what you're talking about so that they can move into the digital in the 21st century but that's not his skill level that's not where he's coming from. So we've got an impasse here because he's the guy leading it at the moment. Yeah I think there are some opportunities so you know when I started writing my articles it definitely attacking that management that you talk about. I did get some very good response from other people who are ombudsman for the American people called the office of the inspector general. And that office said hey look we want to really listen to your ideas because we know this thing is got to change but the existing management. Irrespective of all the constraints they say Congress puts on them they still haven't shown real leadership in spite of that. They're essentially what you know we in engineering call bee encounters. They are essentially counting the beans. It's a very safe and they brand their solution is innovative which is to fire 35000 people. This is known as innovative but it's not innovative it's not in the tradition of what

Franklin did you know in actually creating a new system a new way of looking at the Franklin were alive today because of Franklin Benjamin Franklin who really put together the post-service I believe if he were alive today he would embrace email. He would essentially probably fire the current management and say look you need to embrace a system it is a modern version of what I put together for you. If you read Franklin's work he said he was trying to put together something was reliable How do you transport the movement get it from point A to Point B was all a business process. And that's what email is it's a business process of that inner office postal mail system. So the current management there I don't think they're going to get it unless there's a public outcry demanding that the Postal Service exist as a civic function and that it embrace e-mail Otherwise they're just going to go standard standard course right now. My guest is Dr. Shiva I adore and he's a lecturer in biological engineering and Comparative Media studies at MIT and the director of the MIT e-mail lab. But Doctor I do a lot of people think as they think about libraries.

If I have the internet I don't really need. Librarians if I have my own e-mail I don't need the post office. You know what was the problem. So if they do as they are going to do in May which is to lay off you know thousands of people and shut down some some sorting and organizational centers you know what do you think about that. I mean that's where we are right now. Yeah I mean I think the the attack on the post office as I said earlier in this conversation is really an attack on a civic function. And if there's one message that I want people to take away from this is that attack on that civic function really represents a free flow for us to communicate and that civic function must exist in our society in electronic format or postal format. Having said that the Postal Service has actually been under attack in many ways and I believe one of these attacks is really targeted against the attack on democracy which is our right to communicate without being interrupted. You know with attacks on our privacy and security. So if we step back and really really look at the origins of the postal service where it came from was to support this free

flow of communication a civic responsibility of the postal service and then we see what's going on now and then we see what's going on with e-mail now. I think that the light becomes there the light shines on this prom a lot more clear why the postal service should be saved and why it should move to offering a whole bunch of e-mail services which I've written about that will actually create new revenue and give people. Back the rights that they deserve on on the digital world. Is anybody in Congress listening to you. Because they're about I don't know how many but 16 bills in Congress right now trying to figure out how to head off a complete collapse of the post office system as we know it now. None of them seem to me to be embracing what you're talking about. I know you have some very specific ideas. You know that you've tried to talk to people about where are we with this. I think where we are right now is that until we get it away from the illusion that's promoted that the postal service meaning the workers are the cause they don't work hard there. You know there's a lot of this myth that's put

against the ordinary postal worker. Once we eliminate that and we actually uncover what's going on as I've mentioned before we can actually figure out the real source of this problem is but right now it's all against Well these people don't do their job etc. that's not the issue. And in Congress right now I mean I have not heard any congressman stand up and you know demand that the Postal Service be saved. People are essentially into that same cost cutting you know being counter model. It's not about being innovative. And right now I think there's a recent book that was written saying that we need to have 1.8 billion jobs for the world if we're going to make it out of chaos and uncertainty. And if we're so willing to just layoff 40000 workers a potential hundred thousand right here in the United States for a reason that doesn't have to happen if people embrace digital technologies offer services that it's really setting a very different type of narrative. And what's going to happen to the United States is beyond the postal workers. It's how we treat this whole way. Creating jobs or destroying jobs versus

actually using innovation and thinking out of the box and that's what's needed right now and that's what the Postal Service opportunity or the post service issue really brings to the forefront. Well thought provoking. I'm with you. I hope somebody is listening. All my congresspeople at least. Thank you so much I thank you. We've been talking about how technology can save the U.S. Post Office. I've been speaking with Dr. Shivah I of do re He's a lecturer in biological engineering and Comparative Media studies at MIT and the director of the MIT e-mail lab. He also holds the first copyright and e-mail. We continue the innovation conversation with Charles granson the 28 year old principal is charged with turning around one of the worst performing schools in the state. You're listing the eighty nine point seven WGBH Boston Public Radio. Show.

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here on eighty nine point seven. WGBH. Welcome back to the Cali Crossley Show. If you're just joining us we're talking about innovation meeting people who are thinking of new ways to solve old problems. I'm joined by Charles Grantham the fourth. He's the freshly appointed principal of the high school of Commerce in Springfield Massachusetts. It's one of the lowest performing schools in the state. Charles Manson welcome. Thank you Kelly. So you're the eighth principal since 1999 and what's called a turnaround school. Yeah. And now we've talked about turn around schools here on the Calla Crossley Show in the past but I just want to put in context where you're at at the high school of Commerce. So I've read that there are four high schools categorized as Level Four out of a possible five. And at at level five the state takes over you're at level four with the high school of Commerce.

And what else does that mean exactly. Well that means that we're under the gun providing a quality education for a certain segment of the populace. The spring thing feels you stand it after three years of being level 4. We are supposed to show progress from year to year to the state and if we do not we risk becoming a level 5 which is. Which means being taken over by the state. It's not exactly a school that a lot of people would run to helm let me just say. And as principal you come into the job with a lot of education yourself you get a master's degree in education bachelor's degree and history working on your doctorate right now. Why. Yeah well I think naturally throughout my life run towards challenges and so I think I had good preparation so I trained through the Boston plan correct. Excellent. To be a principal

and through that training I really had my eyes open to the possibilities and within urban education. And so one of the things that was the core part of my training program was the idea that every student should learn and that if we taught students based on what we need based on data and data as opposed to what we thought they should have we would be able to be more strategic and target skill development for young people and so I had some success but doing that as a teacher and in my previous year at the English High School at a turnaround school and the leadership of doctors you know these are very transformative environment and leadership sort of learning laboratory. And that's also a level for turnaround. All right so the innovation here your innovative approach is as you say to look at the data what is the data where you are now that you you have to deal with. But we know that 53 percent of our incoming incoming one third of this year came in

labeled at risk based on dropout indicators provided by the state. And that's a 5 percent could drop out. Is that what you mean exactly. Okay. Bakley and that's based on of course passage how they did on AM cast in the eighth grade attendance trends. Course as you know Les and Matt mainly And so we know that you know as soon as they come in we have to be prepared for them and be ready to teach them in a different way. That means different kinds of teaching in the classroom and that takes a while because you you have to get teachers trained to teach differently that the young person that was in front of them 10 years ago is not the famous young person who's currently in front of them. And we also know that means providing services for young people. So having social workers in schools who are willing to deal with the social emotional issues that students come to school with as well. So when you say the student is different what do you mean what why. Why are students different. Well we know in looking at the data the student that was the

student body at the high school of Commerce for example 50 percent of the students were on free and reduced lunch. Ten years ago now and that's closer to 95 percent. OK. When you look at Springfield immigration patterns overall most of our students our students are 65 percent Latino and 35 percent of our students are newcomers we service sort of newcomers Academy we have a school within a school model to provide services for those students who are English language learners as well. Yes and I read that you are basing so much on English development level not to grade level can you explain what that means and why. Yes. So research trends around the country now in term. Providing a proper education for English language learners that they should be grouped not by grade level but more so based on where their English language development is at that time and so we have a 3 cohort over they be in the cohort of students who just arrived

here. They come in they may have no when you say color you mean a group so you have three gaps. OK. And they may arrive to the country into the school having no formal training in English language and so they're put into intensive classes with teachers who are working with them throughout the day on English language TV. And then after they have shown the level of competence in that group they are moved to the next group. And this is throughout the school year where they're put into the traditional course load of history and English but shelter English inclusion with a teacher who is bilingual who's teaching in English always but can make some clarification and can manage. And we also have students from. Vietnam and Somalia as well. So you're grouping people based on English development level. You arrange some things differently with teachers based on data.

What are some of the other specific changes you've made or one of the things where we're trying to do is create the accountability. So coming here and having a different leaders it's been a struggle in terms of having structure. And so we're building for example a ninth grade academy that has a guidance counselor and a instructional leadership specialist like an academic coach and a social worker and a dean of students that works with building developing school culture and all those individuals assigned to just one group of students trying to create a small learning communities for young people so that we don't lose any. And it's a challenge. Daily I have to walk into my office. We now have a new system where no one can enter or leave the school unless they see me face to face. And you know it barely. I come across students who want to leave school because. Pregnant issue or because you

know they're 17 and now repeating a ninth grade for the third time. And you know they're looking for money or going to a trade and do something else. So I was trying to see how we can keep the young people here in an alternative pathway for graduation. So as I listen you know some of what you're saying though in a different format. You know I can imagine that other people may have tried maybe not in the end as in a concentrated way and you are very carefully telling me all about the data and how things have changed. But the kids and I saw an interview with a young man who said hey we had so many principals here I can hardly can't possible see what this guy does. Part of what has to happen in this in this environment that you've laid out which could be could defeat a lot of people before they even began is to change the whole tone of what's going on in the school. How have you been working in that way. And why did you think that that was important to do. Yeah so I mean I think my experience so far for me is that

you know I'm thinking really has a lot to do with how we approach things and whether or not we can be. But with them. You know government similar background growing up in Washington D.C. raised by a single black mother I know that if it wasn't for the adults in the building who all believe no matter what that I was capable of achieving more if it weren't for them I wouldn't be where I am today. So taking that approach every adult in the building who we know that they care and that they're passionate and dedicated. But if they have seen failure trends for so long it's hard to really do you know reverse and thinking. And so it's really a part of my strategy has been to communicate to teachers and all adults in the building. You know my Angelou quote She once said If you can't change something change the way you think about it and it doesn't mean that we can't change it but that there has to be a total shift in the way we look at education and and how we educate the young people who are young people who are for the day.

One of the things that you know when we talk about innovation we're talking about innovative approaches to this entire hour. People tend to think it has to be some kind of digital you know whiz bang tool. But there are other ways of moving in an innovative way. So would you say that just what you said there that whole projecting to the students that we believe that you can do it is the most foundational piece of of the changes you're making there. I think it is the sort of basic building block. And I think the next level is finding out which particular skill gaps we have and working to fill those before we go to the next thing. But the idea that a teacher stands up and teaches. Curriculum that mapped out and you know you know the student didn't get it and I still taught it that that thinking has to change. And once we get there will be very much along the way. Well teachers are at the heart of this plan because you know they're the ones that are going to be doing

that daily interaction with the students. How are they reacting to your innovative changes. Yeah it's hard and I think when you as an educator when folks have been sort of heartbroken for so many years and disappointed based on leadership or students who they've tried to make successful. And so the honest answer is that it is challenging. You have some who are still not sure right about me and my approach. And there are some who are great and who you know really taking this opportunity to really do some innovative things that they want to do in their classroom with their teacher. You're working in a community context outside of the high school and you've just frame for us the challenges inside the high school building. There is a community that you know ended up with according to some studies one of the most segregated in the nation recovering from tornado aftermath and fraught with a

lot of violent activities. Me dad is tough so if you manage to get things going inside the building then they've got to go home every night you know and then you do what you have to start again the next day. Right. Yeah. And that's that's really what it feels like and what it's been like. And so you know we have to be the parent away from home. We have to be a grandmother there for the young person and we have to make those relationships with those who are really the blood relatives the young people and many kids. You're 28 years old. You have a two year contract there. You have a stellar academic history. You could be doing anything and you certainly can leave in a very short while emotionally because you're reciting this stuff to me. You know very calmly. That's good. But I don't want to mix. But I would like to get to the emotional part or the spiritual part that keeps a person like you in a scenario that you are in and one that you're trying to

change and try to find out what's going on there. You know explain to us what keeps you going every day. You're right. I see this large part the next the rights movement in our country and the education and being you know the great equalizer. So the thing that will really help the least of the those who are predominately in many cases black and Latino young people who really will be the future of this country as we look at changing demographics. And if we do not provide them with this education and really provide them with a pathway to college we will be creating a permanent underclass. And that that to me is going up. Thank you very much. Charles grandson the fourth principal of high school of Commerce. I've been speaking with that principal about what it will take to turn his school around. And Charles Cranston is the freshly appointed principal of the high school of Commerce

in Springfield Massachusetts. Thanks again. Thank you. Coming up we meet a man who is aiming to save a city. One candy bar at a time. You're listening to eighty nine point seven. WGBH Boston Public Radio. We love our contributors. That means you. And Bank of America proud to support high school quiz show as well as other education initiatives throughout Massachusetts including Citizen Schools teach for America and local Boys and Girls Clubs Bank of America dot com slash Boston. And the Harvard innovation lab a university wide center for innovation where entrepreneurs from Harvard the Austin Community Boston and beyond engage in

teaching and learning about entrepreneurship. Information at I lab at Harvard dot edu. And from members of the Ralph Lowell society. These most generous annual contributors lead the way in sustaining WGBH as a public media resource available and free to all. WGBH dot org slash Ralph Lowell. PR eyes the world is people I begin my day by taking the brisk full community school can put those trips we know put everything into proportion. The world is different. When I come back home and switch on the radio and Mayhew politician was using words such as never for a voter or for a comity I know the Stones. But there's a good thing. Join us on the world. Coming up at 3 here on eighty nine point seven WGBH. Hey Peter Siegel hear from NPR's WAIT WAIT DON'T TELL ME and we need to have the talk. I mean you say you want to keep it casual no strings but look at yourself. You talk about public radio all the time you check on it all day. You make that silly face when you listen. It's

time to take this thing to the next level. And become a WGBH supporter it's a big step. I know. Which is why for now I'm just asking you. To think about. Just. Think about it. Great question and it's a great question and it's a great question. It's a great question. Rick great question and feel hear unexpected questions and unexpected answers this afternoon. You're on eighty nine point seven. I'm Cally Crossley. If you're just tuning in we're talking about innovation this hour meeting people who are using fresh ideas to solve some old problems. Joining me from Rhode Island is Mike Ritz. He's the executive director of leadership Rhode Island and the co-founder of save chocolate ville. Mike Ritz welcome. Hey thanks for having me on it's always a great thing to be on WGBH. Absolutely you're correct about that. So save Chapman Vale as

you have put it is a volunteer mobilization effort of concerned friends and neighbors and that's to transform Central Falls Rhode Island. So first for those who don't know why those Central Falls need help. Well Central Falls is our only bankrupt city in Rhode Island right now. I think many of you have probably heard about the city it's also in the most densely populated cities in the country approximately 900000 residents in one square mile. A lot of people know this because they've had some various union disputes in education so at one point the superintendent fired all of the teachers but the city is in great fiscal crisis which it's coming out of now the governor appointed a receiver to put it on some fiscal stability with a five year plan. What hasn't really happened and shouldn't necessarily

be sort of officially is anything to address the quality of life issues of this community and it's been struggling for many many years this is nothing new. And so the the idea of save chocolate villas is a move in that direction. Well it's definitely an innovative approach to saving a city. We just want to underscore a couple things so Central Falls has taken over by the statement filed for bankruptcy. And you mentioned the Central Fall School controversy but there was also library closures that we have reported about on this show and of course the library rebirth and Meryl Streep just donated $10000 to the library there in honor of her fellow Oscar nominated pal Viola Davis who's a native Rhode Islander. So for people who are saying I think I've heard that name before recently. That's that's where it's comes from. So a chocolate bar. Saving a city. Tell us how this works. What a lot of people don't realize is that the original name for Central Falls about the first 40 years of its existence was chocolate ville. I had some some other

nickname variations chocolate mills and so forth but chocolate Dill was one of them and the reason was because the first center of industry if you will was a chocolate mill. And so the community built around this mill and then it later turned to textile mills and turned into various manufacturing industries and so forth. The technology used in the mills the original Mills actually predates the Slater mills which is often considered sort of the birthplace for the American industrial age. And so this idea of save chocolate ville you know Central Falls as a name is very heavy to people particularly here in Rhode Island where there's been just so much negative media around what's going on. And you know these are these are factual stories I mean it is and it is a struggling community. So the idea of capturing what chocolate bill was what did that mean back in the time that it started you know this birthplace of innovation and entrepreneurship and

productivity. And so you've got that on one hand which is this this great American story of you know creating this amazing business that did very well and thrived in the community around it thrived. And then on the other end where we are today. If you don't nurture that if you don't continue to innovate if you don't continue to you know be a giant in the market and foster community then you win with you know an American city in decline and that's where it is today so the idea of save chocolate as a chocolate bar was to me it seemed sort of natural so when I was learning the history of Central Falls I the first question I had is who produces chocolate there now. And there has not been any Continue continue as producer of chocolate there. But a gentleman by the name of Chef Andrew Schott's moved there from New York and as luck would have it he's the only chocolate producer in chocolate ville in Central Falls right now. But he's not just any chocolate here. He's considered in the world to be

one of the finest chocolatiers in the world. Definitely in the top five some say the number one in the United States. So what an amazing thing to have this great story of the origins of the birthplace of Central Falls tie it into this amazing guy who's very innovative about his chocolates and is using the highest quality chocolates that he can get his hands on to create these amazing products and then harness that into a bar and then use that bar to raise money for children the future of Central Falls. So Chef Andrew as you've noted is known throughout the world who used to work at the Russian Tea Room as a pastry chef. How did you find him in Central Falls. I had heard of kerosene confections which is the name of his operation. A few years ago I tend to be a bit of a local foodie. But what I didn't realise was the caliber of chocolates here he was. So when I started looking into Central Falls I went and said

Who's that. You know the only person producing chocolate is there anyone producing chocolate every one pointed me to him. So I knocked on his door and I went in and I said you know I'm interested in trying to mobilize a large group of people pro bono to go into a community and try to work with the community to help the community help itself and Central Falls as a major struggling community. And as far as I can tell you're the only chocolate here here. Do you know that it used to be called Chocolate ville. Here's my first question. And he was taken aback by it. And in fact the first thing he said was I know I know Central Falls is struggling in fact you know if I could get out of here I think I would. And most of his business comes online he can really you know operate wherever he wants he does a lot of order business online ordering. So that was took me aback and I said wow you know could you hang in a little bit because I'm interested in seeing if we can't you know work to make this community

better I just would like a little cooperation I've got an idea. And so we started talking about it and little by little he started getting more interested. And now to the point where he's pulled the For Sale sign off of his factory now and is rejuvenated and is getting involved in the community and is very excited so it's this human touch you know that turns people around sometimes. And quite frankly I mean because we've gotten a lot of attention over the save chocolate village chocolate bar. You know he's seen his orders and his sales go up already. Even though the chocolate bar itself goes to raise money for children. People buy his other products too so I think he's he's starting to gain confidence in the area and then the further we go with this project this mobilization of this army of volunteers or some people call it like a domestic Peace Corps or something like that. You know I think he'll be more involved and have more confidence to stick around now he's talking about creating a you know a large facility to be a bean to bar factory on the

East Coast. Well the bars that he's created are kind of a thick dense chocolate quite delicious. So they look like any sort of high end chocolate bar. Anybody would buy it in fact. These are high end. They cost $5 apiece so it's not cheap. Now they're sold in one whole foods right now or has it expanded to other places is that where you're at at this moment. Well when I you know I was talking about the idea and to get a little bit of attention you know I dressed up in a character and delivered the bars and people saw the photos and so a Whole Foods in Providence asked me you know do you have a chocolate bar and could we get this on our shelves. And it was right before Valentine's Day so they pushed really hard and gave us this amazing display space in Whole Foods and we got ready for Valentine's Day. But now others are coming forward and saying we would like to carry the product as well. And so we're

we can you can buy them online we sell them online so anyone out around the country can purchase them. And we've had sales already in San Diego and Dallas and so people are doing that Triple A triple A is now going to have them available in their Boston branch location as well as three locations in Rhode Island and one in Connecticut as of next week. So next week and stop by Triple-A offices and you can buy the chocolate bar there too. So so we buy that let's say those of us who buy the bar at you know $5 a piece and then our money just collected and we get to that in just a second. Where does the money end up. Well who directly gets it at the end. So what we're doing now is we're holding it in a fund leadership Rhode Island which is a nonprofit and we're going to ask the kids of Central Falls to help us identify where that need is. So we've been talking to children's friend which is an organization that's been around for a really long time does a lot of good social services work for children. And they have a

location in Central Falls. They've been working with us to figure out where is the greatest need where's the gap where things that children you know don't get attention for services for if they're. In poverty and so we're looking at that but I think what we're ultimately going to come to here is that the children will write in and will send us letters Well help us identify and I think that makes the most sense. We've been going round and round about it and we have a committee around this. The person who made the label for the bar is on the committee. Casey Spencer the printer Barry Couteau from Barrington printing he printed it pro-bono you know everybody's doing this as a goodwill initiative and they're doing it without pay which allows us to sell the $5 chocolate bar and and make sure that $2 and 75 cents from that $5 goes toward the fund the $2 and 25 cents goes for the chocolate. Here's expenses. You know he's not losing money on this thing. But he's also you know not profiting.

So the organization you just mentioned these are people who are experts in children's services so they are part of the committee making a decision as well. Absolutely and you know everything happened faster than we thought. People like the story and the story is or the chocolate bar itself is a story you know you can you look at the back and it says in the corner lift here to revive a community and you lift that and then on the inside wrapper we tell the story of chocolate chocolate ville and encourage people to get involved and help in a lot of different ways and that help can be extended around the world you know around the country to help us go into Central Falls work with the people there and help life get a little bit better. I don't think anybody would disagree that this is an innovative approach to help save a city or a piece of the community as you've identified as those children who are in need. How are they selling thus far. Well we're in our second thousand Now if you can believe it. And that's two individual buyers. We haven't done any sort of you know bulk selling of any sort. So

I tell you it's very encouraging to see. I mean the first three weeks we sold a thousand bars in that one Whole Foods location alone so it resonates with people I think this is a story that people get I think that people recognize that there are many cities around the United States that are struggling and we just have to help. Fix and revive and revitalize one square mile. You know chocolate Ville Central Falls Rhode Island is one square mile. And what I've been telling people if we can't you know help our neighbors and we can't help turn around one square mile is all hope lost. And you know our state motto is hope. So people are reacting well to that Rhode Islanders are reacting well that but also people around the country like I say we're getting online orders and people are sending us notes and saying how can I help in other ways. It's just been very encouraging. And you know helps me stay very optimistic about the good work that we're about to start doing in in the even larger way.

When you first came up with this idea did people think you were a little bit. I think you were a little bit nutty. Especially especially when I showed up dressed as Willy Wonka. They did yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So what do the people do they think I was and I think I get that a lot to tell you the truth in a lot of projects I do. But I don't know I mean I think they thought it was interesting when I deliver the chocolate bars originally I didn't tell people what it was for. And so I went to actually the Rhode Island foundation the foundation is running this innovation fellowship and so I rap to the grant to the innovation fellowship around the chocolate bar and delivered to everyone in the in the building in the bar. And they didn't know they had the grant and they just kept unraveling it and rattling it and getting the whole story of chocolate and what we were doing and so it's gotten good positive response I don't know if we'll get the fellowship you know yet but it's still up in the air but we made it to the second

round after you restored this one square mile we're going to take the positive road where else would you like to make changes in Rhode Island. Well unfortunately there there is a long list of struggling communities in Rhode Island. And so the idea here is once we do this community work on a sense and we start implementing some solutions. The chocolate bar just being one little grain of sand in this wider beach of trying to revitalize a community. And I think you know once we get that we'll well we'll package it and we'll be able to show others that have struggling communities. What we did wrong we know we're going to make mistakes. What we did right. But you know really look at can can someone take hundreds of people hundreds of neighbors I like to put it in neighbors terms specially in Rhode Island we're such a small community. Can you mobilize hundreds of neighbors pro-bono to do the right thing. You know it's it's not

dead in America. I think that people when you when you push them and prod them particularly if you give them a direct ask and how they can help people come to the you know they they rise to the occasion and they help their fellow man and woman and so I just think that this will give everyone some inspiration and that's the hope and whether I do it directly myself or whether it inspires others I mean hopefully it inspires others and this thing grows exponentially. Now in Rhode Island but around the country. I think that you have to I mean I think that's noble what you just stated but you know people so you'll get some people who want to do the right thing I think that's great. But you know you've got to have something a product a good product that other people who really don't care anything about doing the right thing but all things being equal they might as well help out as not and I it brings to mind Paul Newman products. So you know you buy the product but they have to taste good. And then you know it goes to someplace else. All things being equal you might as well buy that salad dressing it tastes good. So same thing here with the chocolate bar it seems to me it's quite tasty. So you'll maybe reach some people

who are not so much into your cause but like chocolate. That's OK. No actually. Oh yeah No absolutely I mean this is an interest. There are other you know chocolate bars around the country they sell to raise money for this that or the other. But I don't know of any of this quality. I mean this is you know world famous chocolate by garçon confections and you know Alternately I think it would be a really wonderful thing when I was a kid. I grew up in Indiana. And when I was a kid I remember other children would come to the door and they'd say sir would you please buy this chocolate this that or the other. Alternately I would love to see children around the country selling save chocolate milk chocolate bars kids helping raise money for kids in a place that desperately needs it. So what happens if demand exceeds supply. How will you deal with that because you're not a manufacturer. I mean a need there is at this point even your chocolatier was not set up to for that kind of output I don't imagine. Yeah we're talking about that already and injury shots is very interested in creating an almost Willy Wonka esque type of Castle

manufacturing building he's had this drawn up in sketches for years I just never knew about it. And so I think that there's room for growth and everyone is looking for flexibility. The nice thing is if you were to develop a larger volume manufacturing business than he would hire people and so people would get jobs because you know what it was I mean it really harken back to the days of chocolate. Well this is the sweetest innovation I've heard of Mike Ritz. Good luck to you. Thank you very much. We've been talking about innovation this hour my guest is Mike Ritz the executive director of leadership Rhode Island and the co-founder of save chocolate ville. We've been talking about his plans to help Central Falls reignite its glory days as a chocolate manufacturing town. You can keep on top of the Calla Crossley Show at WGBH dot org slash Calla Crossley follow us on Twitter or become a fan of the Calla Crossley Show on Facebook today show was engineered by Allen Madison produced by Chelsea Murray will Rose left and Abbey Road. This is the Calla Crossley Show a production of

WGBH Boston Public Radio.