League of Women Voters of the Rivertowns: Authors Beth Zasloff and Joshua Steckel To Discuss Poverty In Our Community

As part of a League of the Women Voters of the Rivertowns study of poverty in our Rivertowns communities, the authors of Hold Fast to Dreams: A College Guidance Counselor, His Students, and the Vision of a Life Beyond Poverty, will discuss challenges facing many of the students in our communities hoping to attend college. The public is encouraged to participate.

Winner of the Studs and Ida Turkel Award, the authors Beth Zasloff and Joshua Steckel, will discuss their experiences with students facing numerous obstacles in their quest for a college education and lead a discussion of the issues as they pertain to our community.

Beth Zasloff has taught writing at New York University, at Johns Hopkins University, and as a teaching artist in the New York City schools. She is the co-author, with Edgar M. Bronfman, of Hope, Not Fear: A Path to Jewish Renaissance, and currently directs the Midtown Workmen’s Circle School, a progressive Jewish community. She has a BA in English from Yale University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars.

Joshua Steckel is a College Counselor at the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies, a member of the New York City Outward Bound Schools network. He has been working as a teacher and a counselor in New York City public and private schools since 2000. He has an MSEd in school counseling from Hunter College, a BA in English from Duke University, and an MA in English from Johns Hopkins University. Beth Zasloff and Joshual Steckel are married and live with their three children in Brooklyn.

This program is part of a book club sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Rivertowns. It, in turn, is part of a two-year study of poverty in our Rivertowns communities. The book club, which is open to all, meets at the Warner Library in Tarrytown. Books are available at the library. A full schedule follows.

The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan grassroots political organization dedicated to the active and informed participation of citizens in government – at the local, county, state and national levels. The League works to educate voters, increase understanding and debate of major public policy issues, and influence policy through education and advocacy. www.lwvoftherivertowns.org

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE RIVERTOWNS

BOOK CLUB SCHEDULE

2014-2015

7:00 PM at the WARNER LIBRARY

121 NORTH BROADWAY, TARRYTOWN

October 6 – Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Friday, January 16 – Hold Fast to Dreams, a College Guidance Counselor, His students, and the Vision of a Life Beyond Poverty by Beth Zasloff and Joshua Steckel, INCLUDING A DISCUSSION WITH THE AUTHORS

Monday, February 23 – Closing Time by Joe Queenan

Monday, March 23 – Toxic Charity, How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help by Robert D. Lupton

Monday, April 30 – Hand to Mouth, Living in Bootstrap America by Linda Tirado

Monday, May 18 – The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

This book club is part of a League study of poverty in our villages.

All are welcome to participate in these programs. For more information, about these programs or the League study, call Susan Schwarz @ (914) 332-1301.