GRPS Uncovered is a project started by Professor Leanne Kang, who currently teaches at GVSU and is the author of the book, Dismantled: The Breakup of an Urban School System: Detroit, 1980–2016.

In this episode, Dr. Kang interviews Betsaida Valdivia. Betsaida is a former GRPS student who talks about  how their time in the district during the 2010s shaped their understanding of education, opportunity, and student voice — a journey that now guides their work as Youth Education Organizer for the Urban Core Collective.

So far, GRPS Uncovered has produced ten episodes, which you can listen to at this link. All ten episodes shed light on important history in the Grand Rapids Public Schools.

These oral histories are critical not only for our understanding of this history, but because they provide insight into the lived history of people, many of which we are not familiar with.

We encourage you to listen and share these podcasts and use them as teaching tools for learning local history and as a resource to potentially impact current policies at the GRPS.