
Recently Encore Magazine honored us by interviewing me for a piece they called Finding Representation. In it they highlight my book, “The Adventures of Lucas and Alyci: The Big Surprise.” The goal is to help more kids…any kids…especially kids of color…to realize that their ideas can affect our world in powerful and positive ways too!
To quote the article:
“STEM can open kids’ minds to the fact their ideas always spark something better,” Corpening says. “There’s no leash on a kid’s ability to solve problems outside of the one we give them. In my day-to-day work in education, I hear so many first-time college students tell me how horrible they are in math and how they want to wait to take it. Teaching them early to be inquisitive . . . builds their confidence in their ability to try and figure problems, [which] helps them throughout life.”
READ THE ENCORE ARTICLE BELOW
FINDING REPRESENTATION: Travis Corpening reads from his children’s book, ‘The Adventures of Lucas and Alyci’
By Shannon Rae Gentryon on December 17, 2019
WILMINGTON, NC ENCORE – The Pew Research Center reported in January 2018 that, while there’s widespread support of racial and ethnic diversity in science, technology, engineering and math jobs, lack of diversity and representation in STEM fields is a problem as we approach a new decade.
There are underlying reasons rooted in educational opportunities—or in this case, lack of access. However, a third of people working in STEM areas point to under-representation and lack of role models, leading to black and Hispanic Americans not believing their abilities to pursue these fields.
Local author Travis Corpening set out to combat the issue with his 2018 children’s book “The Adventures of Lucas and Alyci.” Corpening is director of the Nixon Minority Male Leaders Program at Cape Fear Community College. He also has his master’s degree in liberal studies from UNCW (2006), during which he researched the impact of exposing young kids to characters in storybooks who look like them.