Front and Center visited classrooms around Chicagoland to hear what gets teens excited about reading.Amy Correa teaches sixth and seventh grade at Agassiz Elementary School in Chicago.

For Front and Center, Michigan Radio’s Jenn White hosted a one-hour show on June 13 exploring the ways in which low-literacy can affect an American’s civic participation.

Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon around 3 p.m., a group of Northwestern University students in red Jumpstart T-shirts trickle into the Howard Area Community Center. Once inside, the Jumpstart members follow a carefully crafted pre-

Poverty and safety are some of Fenger High School's major concerns. Reading is another.

On a warm Friday evening, Chiara and her friends are huddled over paper and computers. They aren’t distracted by the shouts and laughter drifting in from the playground behind them. These students are deep in their thoughts.

Like one in five students, 9-year-old Jacob Forst has language-based learning disabilities that affects his reading and writing abilities. A school like The Hyde Park Day School sounded just right for Jacob. But first he had to get in.

New Common Core standards require students to become proficient with a keyboard. Forty-five states have adopted this comprehensive change to K-12 curricula. Now educators must decide whether they want to make time to teach cursive writing – even if there’s not a grade for it on report cards.

The busiest international crossing in the United States is in Detroit. Each year more than $200 billion worth of trade crosses the border there. Those trucks drive across the Ambassador Bridge--which is privately owned. The bridge is old and congested.

To create businesses and jobs, some cities in the Midwest are trying to lure immigrants. Dayton, Ohio, stands out for welcoming newcomers without wealth or training—even those who lack papers to be in the United States. For Front and Center, Chip Mitchell reports.