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This is connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Our connection this hour will be made on the ice in Turin, Italy later this year.

That's where a local woman will be representing the United States and figure skating at the special Olympic World Games.

Connections.

Listeners know Corey peels from several appearances on the show, and people in the greater Rochester area may know her from her talents on the ice.

But as we are going to learn this hour, it's not just about the sport of figure skating.

Faculty and students at RIT are taking sports journalism beyond just the statistics.

Photojournalists are working with Special Olympics athletes, including Corey, to tell their stories in more meaningful ways.

From the highs and lows of competition to the meaning of teamwork and camaraderie, to the dedication and passion that athletes have for their sports.

We're exploring the stories and how to capture them with our guests, and we have a packed studio this hour.

If you happen to be watching on Sky news YouTube page, you'll see it is packed in here.

Hello, Jen Poggi, professor of photojournalism.

And it.

Welcome back.

Thank you for being here.

Hello.

Thank you.

Same title for Josh Meltzer, a professor of photojournalism at it.

Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having us.

I mentioned the real star here, Corey Peeles welcome back to you.

Great to see you too.

Appearances here this third or fourth time I think we've seen you over the years.

It's great to have you back here.

Too many years, too many years.

Thank you for being here.

It's great to have you.

Thank you and welcome as well to Travis Lucas, who is a fourth year photojournalism student at RIT.

Hello, Travis.

Thank you for being here.

Yeah.

Thank you.

In a moment, we'll welcome Casey Bertino, who's the senior vice president for external relations at Special Olympics New York.

In fact, I think we've got Casey on there now.

Casey, can you hear me?

Yes, I can.

Hi, Evan.

Thank you for making time for the program here.

So thanks for having us.

this story is part of Dialog on Disability Week.

It's partnership between Sky and the legal community of agencies in conjunction with the Herman and Margaret Schwarz community series.

And full disclosure, WXXI is a media sponsor of the state Winter games for Special Olympics New York.

Those games will be held here in Rochester next month, February 21st and 22nd.

They're going to stay here for the following two years, if I'm right about that.

so that's all of the background here.

But, you know, Jen, you reached out recently.

We've had really wonderful conversations before with some of the athletes, some of the photographers.

in your mind, what's what is the bigger story here?

Why why are you doing what you're doing?

And what do you want listeners to understand about how we are seeing these athletes and seeing our communities?

Yeah, it's a great question.

I think the bigger, the bigger our learning opportunity here is, is connection.

is being able to document, for our students, document the, intellectual disability community, the special Olympic community.

And that's not just the athletes, although there there's certainly a front and center, but that's the coaches and the families and all the providers who, assist, these athletes and also the larger stories beyond the Winter games.

And that's part of what we're really excited about this year, is continuing to tell stories that are off the field of competition.

We'll talk to Josh in a second about how this project got started.

We really shouldn't bury the lead.

Some pretty exciting news.

I mentioned Corey story.

You're going to represent the US in the 2025 world Winter Games in Turin, Italy.

Is that right?

Yes, sir.

How do you feel about that?

I'm so excited.

I'm looking forward to it.

I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and that's, I mean, it's going to be a great competition.

Yes.

Are you nervous?

Are you feeling good about it?

I'm not nervous at all.

I'm looking forward to it.

And what excites you the most about this, Corey?

Well, what's the most exciting part about this is.

Meeting new people from.

Around the world.

Eating food there that I've never had before.

Yeah.

Exploring things.

You know, having fun.

That's the most fun thing.

Yeah.

I have been to Italy.

I want to warn you, the food can be distracting.

Oh, okay.

Good to know.

Now, in a good way.

But boy, is it good.

Oh, yeah.

It's really good.

so that is, that's a great piece of news.

Corey is also going to serve as a health messenger and a member of the Regional Athlete Leadership Council.

Is that a lot of work?

What do they got you doing?

Why don't we just, graduated?

Well, last night, my mom is the, She she's the leader of the the director of it, and I'm going to be doing it.

Again, as being a mentor to others.

And that's great stuff.

And shout out to mom.

Great mom.

You're very lucky.

Yes, she's got a great mom.

We've met her many times over the years.

so we're going to explore a lot this hour.

I want Josh to tell us a little about how this particular project got started.

Sure.

I was in grad school, working with my professor Rich Beckmann, at the University of Miami, who had worked with Special Olympics, both, at the local, state, national and international level for more than 30 years.

And, I had the opportunity to, volunteer with him and other students that he had, at some of the World Games in Los Angeles in 2015, in Graz, Austria, at the Winter games in 2017in Abu Dhabi in 2019.

And that experience was, really eye opening for me.

I had never, interacted with Special Olympics before that, and, really fell in love with the community.

the power of storytelling, that can happen in that community.

And so when I moved to Rochester and started teaching at our at, I read somewhere that the New York State games were here and I thought, wow, this is something that I could take the idea from, my grad school experience and apply it here.

So we began with sort of a very informal kind of workshop where we invited students to volunteer to cover the games.

We reached out, they gave us some workrooms, and over those three years, 20, 18 and 20, we grew to where we now offer a one credit workshop for students in 2007. sorry, the last year in 2020, which was about a week before the pandemic started, we had about 70 students participating, including, students from across our school, from outside of the school of photography, doing photo editing, sort of, of course, photojournalism, but also making portraiture, at each of the venues.

So, and, and teaching leadership, and then it went to Syracuse for a few years and it's back now.

So we're, we're offering our one credit workshop again.

as of today, I think we have 50 students signed up.

we'll be covering all of the venues and, and growing our coverage as well.

And we'll talk to Travis coming up here about some of, what students are experiencing.

But what do you hope ultimately they walk away with here?

Josh?

Well, I mean, I think the biggest part of this for me is that these students, will be professionals quite soon and they will be interacting with, a large population, a diverse population that they can photograph in whatever field they choose.

Some of our students will become advertising photographers or photo editors or photojournalists or directors.

And this experience, I think, really opens their mind into the kind of people that they cast for projects, the kinds of people that they do stories on.

and to me, the biggest growth that we can have in our industry of visual storytelling of all kinds is that we represent a greater, broader population.

And by exposing students to what this population, who this population is, what they offer, it will carry into their professional lives.

And it you know, for me, it was a lesson that I learned as a, as a graduate student that I now and and paying back with my own students.

I want to apologize in advance to this question for Josh and Jen, but I have to ask because first of all, I'm a sports nerd.

but, you know, 20, 25 and everybody thinks they're a photographer now, except for me.

I'm really remarkably poor at using a smartphone to take pictures, but everybody thinks they're a photographer.

Cameras are ubiquitous, and yet the best images I see of the teams I follow, the athletes I like are from the professionals.

There are times where I go, I cannot believe they got this particular shot.

They were in the right place.

It tells a larger story and I'm not going to take listeners through all of Cleveland sports for the hour because that's that would probably be offensive.

But go bills I guess.

What what is the difference in 2025 for students who who are thinking about a future career in this, but also feeling like but isn't there a camera or isn't this a different era?

Take me through your thoughts on the value, the training, the professionalism that that separates that and I apologize.

I mean, it's a good question because everybody is a photographer, everybody has a camera.

I use my iPhone all the time because it's always in my pocket.

And, you know, the best camera that you can have is the one that you have with you at that moment.

So you're not going to take a picture if you don't have a camera.

So some of that is wonderful.

Everybody has become a photographer and I think that's great.

what we focus on is I would say two things, you know, one is the esthetic properties of making good pictures, whether it's composition or lighting or moments and things like that.

And Travis can talk to you about his experience as a student.

But I think the deeper thing that we work on is access.

So, you know, if I were to put anybody in front of an amazing situation, more than likely with their iPhone five or whatever, they happen to have whatever, you know, camera they have, they'll make a pretty darn good picture because it's an incredible moment right in front of them.

But how many people will be in that moment?

How many people can navigate access to be in someone's house when something important is happening in their lives?

To be backstage at a concert with someone you know?

And so we are navigating trust, which is a huge part of what we do and what we teach and access and understanding and also thinking about when is the right time to push the button, and sometimes when is not the right time to push the button.

So the photographers who are professionals that are out covering sports, they have access to certain equipment, which certainly helps.

They have a whole lot of practice, and they messed up a lot of times, and I messed up every single thing I can think of once or twice, which is the best way to learn.

but really they're talking about access and building trust.

So when we're working in a nonfiction world, we have to you have to have people that allow us to, that that we have trust with them.

And, and that takes often a lot of time.

And I know Travis and Corey have developed a good relationship, working together on a project that's ongoing that they can talk about.

But but trust to me is the absolute key to getting good pictures.

Really genuine add to them.

Yeah, I would just say, the storytelling aspect.

Right.

photography is inherently technical.

and, and you know, with advanced, equipment that, you know, the consumer has through their phones or other, you know, other basic equipment that has even the playing field.

And from a technical sense.

But then what do you what do you turn your camera on, you know, what is it that you want to capture and why?

What is it you're trying to say with the pictures, you know, and what's the background information for that?

Why are you making the choices that you are?

and so it's sort of, you know, it's sort of like that, you know, teach somebody to fish, right?

It's it's, it's the core skills, for sure.

Our foundational it.

All right.

But it's the deeper in our program, it's the deeper storytelling.

And what is it you want to say with the work that you're doing?

And who do you want to share it with?

Well, we'll talk to Travis and Corey about that coming up here.

I got a few minutes with Casey Bertino, who's on the line, the senior vice president for external relations at Special Olympics New York.

And Casey, before we kind of get back to this part of the conversation, I just want to make sure you let listeners know anything you want them to know about Special Olympics New York and what you have coming up.

well, we certainly do have quite a bit coming up, but I would be remiss not to to give some kudos to Josh and Jen.

I mean, the students that they bring to these events and the work that they do is just it's priceless for us.

I mean, I remember walking into closing ceremonies the last time we were in Rochester, and they had these, I mean, beautiful, beautiful prints from their photos that they had just taken that day.

And, you know, you're right.

I've and there really is a difference between, you know, I was there that day taking pictures with my phone.

Two and none of them looked like that.

I mean, they're just amazing.

They make our athletes feel like the champions that they are.

and it's just every photo, really does get to that storytelling aspect that Jen was talking about, really to the heart of of who our athletes are.

And, and, and the and the feelings that they have that day participating in the game.

So, it's just wonderful.

How many athletes are you serving these days?

Well, we have 45,000 athletes across the whole state.

probably about 3000 in your area there in Rochester area.

and next month we'll have, 900 of those athletes and coaches from all over the state will be in Rochester for our state Winter games.

February 21st and 22nd.

How big an event?

How important is this on your calendar?

Oh, well, that's you know, we have three sports seasons throughout the year, and the Winter games is one of them.

So it's, it's in the top three for sure.

How has the Rochester is a venue, by the way?

Oh my gosh.

Amazing.

You know, we're especially we're at that Nazareth the Gauss-Seidel training center there for our floor ball and our, we're actually be there the Saturday for a little preview.

If anyone is interested in seeing a little taste of the games.

Our super regional football tournament is there this Saturday as well.

And Casey, for for families that may be here in this conversation and thinking, you know, this may be a place for someone in our family in the future, Special Olympics, or how do you build those relationships?

How does that form?

How do you get in touch with athletes?

well, they should just they should just reach out to us.

we have a lot of people locally that can help.

and in here and, our headquarters in Albany, you know, just go on our website, Special Olympics, ny.org and, submit an inquiry, give us a call.

we're here and we're we're waiting for you.

I want to ask you as well about the competition.

from a couple different angles.

The first is just the importance.

I mean, I know it's 20, 25, and I sometimes I get, cynical is the wrong word, but I just assume that we are in a more inclusive place in society.

And yet we know that there's still a need for advocacy, still need for opportunity.

How are we doing with providing equal opportunity, generally speaking, and how do you think you fit into that?

Well, I think certainly we're getting there.

You know, I mean, in my of course, I work at Special Olympics, so I see it every day.

but I but I do think we're getting better.

I think people are more aware of their opportunities out there for for people of all abilities.

And they know where to find them.

And then on the quality of the competition here.

You want to tell us a little bit about, what you tend to see here?

Oh, gosh.

you would be shocked at the quality of the competition at Special Olympics.

It's really, it's really intense.

these, you know, our athletes are there to win.

they don't all win.

They don't all bring home a medal, which is one of the myths that we carry with us.

And, we're working on that, but, it's it's fierce competition out there.

It's very exciting.

It was just a four ball tournament last weekend, and it was, you know, fast paced and people were getting checked, against the boards, which they're not supposed to do, but they were doing.

so it's, it's a lot of fun.

You really get into it very quickly.

Jillian.

And around the, quote, rights to the program at connections at York, Jillian says, on the Winter games.

I'm so excited.

This is my third year as the Special Olympics plunger, and I didn't know the games are right here in my backyard.

I definitely plan to attend and maybe volunteer.

the Special Olympics Polar Plunge Sunday, February 2nd at Ontario Beach Park, part of the Winter Festival weekend.

Largest in the state.

More than 2000 plungers last year.

Hilarious costumes and silliness.

Wants to know do your guests cover the plunge as well, anybody?

Yeah, Jen 100%.

Yeah, that's a big part of, you know, community support.

and it's a really fun event.

Corey, has a special role in that.

I'll let her tell tell you about that, but, absolutely.

It is.

It is something that our students are out there covering.

what's the role?

Corey, tell us about the plunge.

the.

Polar bear.

And the polar bear.

Little bear.

Yeah.

Leads everybody out.

Whoa.

Yeah.

I mean, it's the polar bear.

It's pretty cold.

It is.

It's worth it.

But you do it.

But it's hot.

But, that costume, that's the way to do it.

Do it in the polar bear costume.

And that's the one role I think I would volunteer for.

So Jillian is saying that this will be, the third year doing the plunge.

can anybody show up?

Is this, like a registered plunge?

I don't know how that I believe that teams register, preregister and they're fundraising as to participate.

I'm not sure that people can show up the day of.

Okay.

and I don't know, Casey, if that is in your arena.

Yeah.

Of course.

and no, you should not show up today.

Anyone?

you can get registered at Polar Plunge, ny.org, and just choose Rochester there if that's where you want to go.

And, yeah, you just tell your friends you're going to do it and they should pay you.

And, it's lots of fun to Casey.

Jillian is also saying that not only is she a plunger, but it was.

It's fun to hear for her to hear that the games are going to be essentially right in her backyard.

what does it mean to the whole organization and the athletes that Jillian and around the Covid and others find out that this is happening and attend and be there and support?

Yeah, I mean, it means the world to us and we really do, you know, things that especially like these big games we can't do without our volunteers.

So for a state where games, for example, we're looking for 350 volunteers, from the local community to come out and, you know, pitch in.

We can't do that event without without our volunteers.

Well, in our second half hour, we're going to show you some of the photos coming up here.

Casey, before I let you go here, I'll just ask you if there's anything else that, listeners ought to know about the games, about how to support your organization and what you want to leave them with.

Before we let you go.

no, it's just, you know, I would just say that there's something here for everyone.

whether you're you're an athlete or, you know, someone who should be an athlete.

if you just have a love for your community and you want to come out and volunteer or, you know, doing the polar plunge is on your bucket list, there's there's something really here for everybody.

And, we we just appreciate everyone's support.

Casey, thank you for making time for the program today.

Thanks for having me.

Casey Patino, senior vice president for external relations, is Special Olympics New York.

And, big, big stuff coming up here in the Rochester area.

February 21st and 22nd.

we as a proud media sponsor for the state Winter games, for Special Olympics New York.

And, what we're going to do is we're going to take, an early only break of the hour, and we're going to come back and, and Travis Lacoste and Corey Peel's, have been developing this relationship.

We're going to talk about, what, what their story entails here.

And we're going to talk more with the athlete, with Corey.

I've got some pictures in my hand.

We're going to share that.

If you're watching on YouTube, we'll have them for you there on the WXXI news YouTube channel.

So wherever you're finding us, whatever platform you're on, we're thrilled to have you with us.

And we'll come right back after this only break of the hour.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Friday on the next connections, the City Magazine team looks back on 2024 and ahead to 2025.

I have an idea for city.

Join the conversation.

First hour.

Then in our second hour, my colleague Gino Fanelli host a conversation about the state of the cannabis industry in New York State.

A lot has been happening.

Sometimes slowly, it'll get us up to speed.

Four years ago, President Biden made closing Guantanamo Bay's prison in Cuba a goal.

But now that looks unlikely to happen, disappointing those who consider Gitmo a national embarrassment.

Yeah.

I mean, especially now that President Biden's a lame duck.

I don't understand the politics of this at all.

The political and legal barriers to closing Guantanamo Bay on All Things Considered.

From NPR news this afternoon at four.

I'm holding a stack of photos and like we've been talking about, I mean, you can do your best to shoot with this, but the professionals and the budding professionals are so good, they're capturing these moments that athletes have of success in Special Olympics New York.

But also sometimes you get you get a shot on the bus and people dap each other up.

Families kind of like families backstage.

I mean, you just feel like you're in everybody's incredible moment here in a really loving, not exploitive, but just loving, amazing way, like you just capturing something so cool.

And so we'll share, though, some of you, if you're watching on, on YouTube on Sky news is YouTube channel.

But, Josh genuine, before we talk to Travis and Corey again, you want to set up for listeners how this relationship comes together, how these students end up in this spot and then we'll kind of dig into to Travis and Corey story.

Sure.

so this is going to be a workshop for our students to learn one credit.

And we'll have this year about 50 students from across, not only the school of photography, but from other majors and other schools that are 18. we have a big workroom.

We send, teams of students to every of the six sport venues, including covering action and moments like you're looking at if you're on the YouTube, and also a few teams of portrait photographers who are going to be making some of the portraits.

And I think there's I included a couple of Corey that were made a few years ago.

some of the students will be photo editing, will be helping run the social media channels for Special Olympics New York.

so some of the students will be working in that way as well.

Production of our website and also the printing that was mentioned earlier.

So it really it really gives students an opportunity for experiential learning.

and, and the workflow that we set up, is, is realistic to any large event coverage.

from a photojournalism documentary perspective.

and that's, that's the additional value that they get to walk away with this kind of experience.

Yeah.

I mean, some of the challenges is getting pictures from a camera to a computer to the internet to a printer really, really quickly, to that audience.

So that's part of what they're learning is, is, you know, challenging workflows and, you know, navigating week wireless systems at different venues and troubleshooting along the way, too.

How's Travis doing?

He's doing great.

Travis Lacoste, a fourth year photojournalism student at RIT.

where is home for you originally?

Travis?

let's get right on that microphone for me.

Yeah, lots of places.

I originally grew up in Kansas, but I live most of my life in Texas.

And then, came to Rochester for school.

For school for for this?

Yep.

For this.

So tell me about why you want to do this.

I don't know, I mean, I think, I could give you a long answer, but my wife and I backpacked across the country a few times, and during that, I met these amazing characters that told me amazing stories.

And I really made a connection with them, on that.

And it was part of my personal journey.

And I learned the power of learning other people's stories.

And so I decided that I wanted to tell those stories to other people and do everything I can to, you know, create that empathy and understanding so other people can experience what I experienced.

That is that is an awesome story.

I mean, you're clearly a very empathetic and deep thinker.

I mean, I mean, I, I'm stumbling here.

That is not what I expected to hear.

I really enjoy this.

Anytime you can stump the host that is not in my notes here.

So tell me a little bit more about having these experiences and why it moved you that way, why it mattered to you to try to get to know who someone was as a person.

I mean, I think, I think understanding how other people have dealt with life helps you deal with your own life.

you know, and that depends on the story.

Like unless you sit down and really take the time to understand why people do it, you don't really think about it.

And I think that photojournalism does that in a very effective way now, because I don't think a lot of people take the time to read as much as they used to, for instance, especially with the rise of social media, things like that.

But photojournalism definitely has the opportunity to just grab somebody and pull them in with a very effective photo, and then you get them to read like the deeper version of that story.

you know, and through my, through my work at all, right, through various schools, I've done a lot of work with not not for profit groups to deal with, like the homeless population and people who use drugs.

And they're stigmatized a lot.

But then you sit down with these people and you realize that they were in the same place, that you are at a different point in their life, and that there's a lot more understanding and things that you have in common with this person than you have different with them.

And I think that that is a way for society to understand and make policy, public policy, move forward in a positive manner that works for everybody.

That's a way for us all to do everything better, right?

I think that's phenomenal.

Were you were you a good listener growing up?

No, no, not at all.

You really don't?

Absolutely.

I mean, I don't think so.

yeah.

Okay.

I was a really bad kid until I got to high school.

Hold on.

But we don't like crap.

It's not like criminal or anything, but, like, you know.

And I'm still kind of like that.

Like, I like to go against the grain.

So if my parents told me, don't do that.

Like, that was the first thing I did, you know, they're like, don't jump off the house.

I did that.

I broke both my ankles doing it like they should have told you.

Like, don't you take out the trash.

Don't you do it.

Yeah.

I mean, I'm going to do it.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

What Travis is not telling you is that he was, huge in the debate team in an earlier, earlier life.

And I think that I think there's a thread of that wanting to sort of dig in that that is a skill that kind of translates to this profession.

Yeah, absolutely.

Like, so when I was in high school, I got into debate and then I went on scholarship the first time I went to college and I studied rhetoric, and philosophy, I, I double majored in that.

And I was actually a Texas state debate champion.

I beat the University of Texas in finals, even though I was at a, like a small school.

And that's you and Ted Cruz.

Okay.

And, and five minutes alone with that guy.

but.

That's where the journalism part comes in.

Because in debate, you have to do enormous amounts of research and understand things.

Yeah.

And so in that, like part of my life, I did that for seven years, and I did that at a national level, like I debated against Ivy League schools.

And you really understand the topic when you debate the same thing for a year, which is what we did.

And I think that's where I got the journalism background is like, you want to do the research before you walk into a story, like you try to make understand as much as you possibly can by reading or talking to people, that have already kind of done stories on that.

And it makes you curious about it.

That's that's the word I think.

I when I asked you if you were a good listener going, I would I really should have asked you.

Have you always been a curious person?

And it sounds like the answer is yes.

Oh, yeah.

Absolutely.

100% like that's how I was a mechanic previously before I came in here.

And I remember my dad was an industrial arts teacher, and he would bring things to the house and it was like that stuff did not last.

I took it apart to understand how it worked, put it back together, broke it, figured out how to fix it.

You know, all that.

So I've always been curious in that.

Do you do that with a camera?

Yeah.

I've taken my camera apart twice and put it back together.

It's amazing what you can find on YouTube.

Can your professors do that?

Well, no.

But what's a beautiful thing is that Travis will come in and say something like, do you use this type of editing?

Do you do this?

What about this?

And and you know, I'm, I'm like less a gearhead and more like, okay, what's the story?

What do you want to tell?

Let's talk about how you want to put something, you know, your story together.

and and he's got the complement of that.

But but that really comes through because again, this is such a technical field.

and I see that from him in the classroom.

Well, I mean, I see in the images that we see, I don't know if we have any Travis Lucas images in the stack here.

There are some.

Yeah.

Okay.

So I see and if we're going to try to share some with the individual component for watching on YouTube.

But I see not just, the the wrong word that I'll use is obvious, but not just an obvious athlete shot.

It is a really thoughtful collection of images from all the students that we're seeing here, and I don't think you get here if you're not a curious person, if you don't really want to learn who somebody is and what is driving them.

And, I just I have a lot of love for people who have curiosity for others.

We get really wrapped up in ourselves these days.

I mean, it's life's a lot more interesting when you meet people who are curious about you, I would assume.

I mean, you can't just be going one way with it, Travis.

I mean, I think that's what opens a lot of doors for me in Rochester as a photojournalism student.

Jen and Josh can attest to this.

Like, I'm always the first one to try and get off campus.

I never have done stories on campus.

and not to say that there's not great stories there, but I am that curious person.

If you look at the kind of stories that I've done, they are they run the spectrum.

They really do.

I've done a lot of professional wrestling.

I've done people that live in tents.

I've done, you know, I worked with Cory and her mother doing documentaries on Special Olympics stuff.

I've worked with, keeping our promise.

An Afghan refugee, not for profit.

Amazing.

And I think that there's.

I think there's value in all those stories.

Like, there's nothing off limits.

And I think that that is I mean, that is one of my favorite things about myself.

And I think that that opens doors for me because I can walk up to almost anybody and talk to them and have a relatable story.

And the dinner immediately they're like, oh, like, I get Travis on a level and I have something to share with them because I think that that's a lot of thing people don't think about with journalism, especially photojournalism.

Like we do very intimate stories with people.

Like not anybody with an iPhone is going to walk off the street and literally be in the bathroom when somebody is taking a shower.

Like, you would never comprehend that people do that and that creates you have to establish a lot of trust and I think the journalism works both ways, too.

Like I give them my stories and they give me theirs, and I use my skills to elevate their story.

And in a moment, we're going to talk about that relationship that Travis has built with Corey.

but before we even get there, I'm just enjoying this little diversion.

So you have to indulge me.

Travis, I just think you're such a truly interesting guy, and I admire you.

I, I, I'm looking at.

So a resume here, that is.

You've been a mechanic.

You're becoming a photojournalist.

You're a debate champion.

Beat Ted Cruz twice.

I think you said, and you went to school.

What were your majors or what were you?

Philosophy, philosophy and rhetoric.

Philosophy and rhetoric.

So, you know, I think of an essay I read by Zadie Smith in The New Yorker years ago.

It's like one of the ones that stands out to me.

And she actually wrote it about Joni Mitchell.

But part of what Zadie Smith is saying in the essays, there's only so much time for you to master so many things.

And the older she gets, the more she looks and says, well, I guess I'm never going to speak German or or I guess I'm never going to speak this language.

Or maybe I'm never going to become a master at understanding California wine or whatever it is.

And you accept that there's a limitation.

Do you accept that?

Do you?

Are you the type person who dives into new things and challenges yourself over time?

Or do you think, look, I'm getting older, got to leave this side.

You got to focus on x, y, z.

No, I mean, I, I would say I'm the exact opposite of that.

I mean, that's how I am, where I am.

you know, and in 2016, my wife and I sold our house.

We gave up our careers.

I sold all my cars, most of our belongings, and we literally lived in a backpack for three years and hiked across the country.

I think it takes a kind of crazy person like myself to do that.

Very confident, I think.

I mean, yeah, in a way.

But, you know, we I mean, the way I look at my belongings too is like, I can't take it with me, you know, like, none of that's going to go with me.

and I cherish experiences over anything else.

And I think that's what drives my curiosity so much, because I want to experience everything I can before I can't.

Is what you're doing through this endeavor with photojournalism?

Is it a long term career for you?

Yeah, 100%.

This is definitely what I want to do.

and I think that's the beauty of being a journalist is I get to step in other people's shoes every day.

And so are you concerned looking at how difficult it is for journalists looking at the challenges for visual media to, to make a living, to find a place that will employ.

Yeah.

I mean, you have to you have to think about that, for sure, because you have to eat.

Right.

but I also think the journalism at large is a service, one of, one of my best, subjects that I followed for a while is the, he's the director of the Aranda Court Library, and I did a small short film on him, and he's a Buddhist.

And in the interview that I did with him, he articulated that he couldn't imagine living a life that wasn't in form of alleviating suffering or service to the public in one way or another.

And I think that that's exactly what journalism is like.

I don't walk into this wanting to be famous.

I don't really care about the awards, I don't I need to make enough money to be happy and content with myself, and be able to have, you know, certain joys in life or whatever.

But, I mean, I love doing this work right now.

Like, that's enough for me.

I don't need to be rich.

I didn't walk into this thinking I was going to be rich.

And if anything, I think it's, It's a great challenge that society has posed to us.

And I think that it is this next generation of journalists that I'm going to school with.

That Gen Josh and the rest of the faculty at our at are trying to do is we have to turn that around to make it a good business, to make it a better business that more people are interested in.

So if anything, I think it's more of a challenge to me.

Like it's not something that I fear.

It's, something just to be dealt with.

Where would you fear this?

You sold everything you had and you went on the road for three years.

Yeah.

Nothing scares you, man.

I mean, yeah, I mean, I don't know.

I mean, I got chased around by a guy with a shotgun in, in, in Florida.

That was kind of scary.

So I, I do fear things right as part of this three year journey.

Yeah.

I mean, we got shot at in Florida.

I got chased by packs of dogs.

Like, that is just like a whole different thing.

But, did you read a book about this?

No, no, no, I have not.

would you like a ghostwriter?

But even, you know, I think that the, the, the kind of storytelling that that Travis is talking to you about, yeah, it for sure happens in traditional journalism outlets.

But part of why we really emphasize, the storytelling aspect of it is, over the technical, is that this kind of storytelling can be applied in different ways.

And so, yes, the look of our industry, and traditional outlets continues to change and evolve, but we have students who go on and they tell nonfiction, storytelling, about their communities in things like in unions or in school districts or, you know, in nonprofits, as Travis mentioned.

And so that, you know, if you can tell an authentic story, that's a skill that's going to support you and you're going to yeah, you might have to work to find places that are going to allow you to do that, and really want that.

But that's what people respond to.

That's what audiences respond to.

And I also want to say that, you know, our students benefit from, you know, from watching Travis and, you know, his sort of insatiable curiosity and getting off campus and getting out into the community.

and it I would only imagine that from Travis's perspective, coming back to school, you know, out of that real traditional college age, right, that 18 to 22 year old age, I mean, that's that is something that, you know, is is a challenge in and of itself.

Right?

Is in and if if these two communities can sort of break through to each other, they have a lot to learn from each other.

And I think the, the relationships that Travis has built across our campus, those students are benefiting, from learning from him and watching how he does things.

It's a great story.

And I should mention for listeners, you know, the professors here, Jen and Josh, are highly accomplished in their own right.

and to Jen, that's high praise for Travis.

Josh, what do you make of his approach to journalism and storytelling?

Well, I mean, the curiosity is, is I actually think it's something it's very hard to teach.

So, you know, that that's really one of the ground skills sets that, that students need.

And, and sometimes it's just about fostering it or understanding what they're curious about.

So I may be, you know, showing a lot of work about certain topics and students aren't that interested.

And then we find out, oh, I see what you're actually interested in and I can you are curious about that.

And so that curiosity is something that is very difficult to teach.

I can teach a lot about the technology if I need to.

I can teach a lot about building trust and gaining access and that kind of thing.

But, you know, the curiosity is the key.

And so we have a lot of students who are like Travis, who got into this because they are curious, you know, and I think this extends, you know, much beyond our major within the school of photojournalism to other aspects of the school, which is like advertising and fine art.

we have those students participating in this as well, and they bring a sense of curiosity that is that is also super valuable, but and yet different.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.

I was just going to say, though, and that's one of the reasons why we're really grateful for the partnership with Special Olympics New York is that for students, younger students, especially the first and second year students who maybe haven't they haven't dug into, for our major and photojournalism major classes just yet.

the opportunity to come into these competitions, you know, with, a community that's welcoming us, you know, and is open arms and is ready, like Corey and her mom, you know, they agreed to, you know, I'll allow our students in, right?

And the athletes that come.

So I think for students who are maybe feeling a little intimidated by, you know, getting in front of people, they feel like a little exposed, you know, to get up close to make the kind of intimate moments, to capture those, you know, this is a really great place for them to try that out.

and then catch the bug.

Right.

And, and that's the beautiful thing about this being a three year, stay in Rochester is that for the students who will be experiencing the Special Olympics for the very first time, this year, they're going to meet athletes like Corey, you know, and, Corey is, you know, somebody who's going to just go about her business and is not going to be staring at the camera.

She's, you know, she knows, and is super comfortable.

And that gives our photographers a confidence.

And then they're going to come back next year and to take on a bigger role and a bigger role.

Well, let's ask Travis and Corey about that relationship.

Travis, when did you first meet Corey?

So I met Corey at the Polar Plunge.

At the Polar Plunge?

Yeah, I was actually, I was in, class with Josh, and it was, advanced nonfiction multimedia class, and we were pitching stories, and, Josh had pitched the idea of doing something on one of the Special Olympics athletes.

And so I got in contact, and there were a few people that we were considering.

And then I was just at the polar plunge photographing, and, I saw Corey and the polar bear suit, and she took the head off and she was just, like, drenched in sweat.

And I forget exactly what she said to me.

I asked her something and she said something to me, and I was like, oh, that's my story.

Like, knew it like immediately.

Like, And so then she went over to the table, and that's when I met her mom, and I was like, I introduced myself to her and Corey and was like, this is what I'm doing.

I'm looking for a story.

Would you be interested me and documented?

And she immediately, like, her eyes got big.

I was like, yes, absolutely.

Like we're in.

And so that's how I met Corey.

So I guess you weren't kidding when you said it was hot in that suit.

no, I would not kidding.

It was hot.

so what do you think of Travis's work and learning to maybe not be focused on the fact that a camera might be around you, Corey, and doesn't.

He's amazing photographer.

He works hard.

He understands what the story is coming in.

I know why.

He's doing it.

He's fun.

Be with.

So you trust him?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, that's a that's a powerful way.

Yeah.

Go ahead.

Jen.

Oh, the trust is essential.

I think probably Josh was going to say something similar there, but that trust is essential.

And, I think that, you know, when you build that trust, a lot of people don't understand the story that they have to share, right?

It's just their everyday life.

And it may feel mundane to them.

But that's the beautiful thing that I think, Travis was sharing before is that, you know, when you do when you when somebody gives us the, the honor of coming into their lives and showing what their life is about, it does open up that connection for other people.

It might be very easy to stereotype, Corey.

I might, you know, if I were only paying attention to what I see on TV, although it's gotten better, right?

Representation wise, if I'm only looking at that, you know, and I don't know anybody from the Special Olympics community, I might have all these ideas, these preconceived ideas, but it's until I meet Corey through Travis's storytelling that I'm going, oh, wow, Corey lives independently.

Oh, wow.

Corey, you know, feels this way or works out three times a week and then does off ice training and I'm like, oh, okay.

Now I can see that I have a lot in common.

And I think that's what Travis was talking about earlier.

Trust is a big word there, isn't it?

There.

Yeah.

And, you know, we're offering a second class this semester, which is new, which is allowing students that I have, which Travis is in this class.

it's a smaller group of students, and we're working on projects around the broad community of people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

And, you know, what we're going to be focusing on is not so much Special Olympics and sport, but is health care, education, employment, housing, independent living, inclusion.

And the story that Travis started working on last year that he's going to be apparently finishing this semester with me in class, is is very much about that through Cory's eyes that, you know, Special Olympics is I always say to people, it's the gateway drug to just get you to the real issues.

So yes, it's a lot about sports and a lot about competition, inclusion.

But really what they're fighting for is, you know, some of the disability rights that we were working on, health care and employment, education, that's really important things that I mentioned that are, that are really at the forefront of people's lives.

And, and it's wonderful days to go to Winter Olympics and celebrate the athletic accomplishments.

But behind the scenes, these are the big issues that we're trying to focus on.

So Travis, his story is really diving not so much into the figure skating, which we know Corey is at the world caliber level, but is also talking about things like independent living and relationships and leadership and the other things in her life that are equally as important, if not more.

Barbara will take your phone call in just a second, but let me wrap up this relationship, because you heard Corey talking about what Travis is like.

What have you found to be the personality of of of the athlete that you've been covering?

Corey.

Yeah, she's she's snickering.

no no no no no no, I'm not laughing.

Yeah.

I mean, I think I think Corey's like a lot of people are like, we have different aspects to our personalities, you know, and I get a completely different view into Corey's life when you leave a live mic on somebody for five hours in his recording.

Yeah, yeah, the whole time.

And they forget it's there.

You get a really intimate look at what somebody thinks when they verbalize it.

but no, Corey is amazing.

she's definitely a leader, respected in the community.

she does great work with people, you know, and she does have that point where she can just, like, shut people down like she is.

She doesn't like something.

It's like, you know, it.

It's nope, not doing that.

And that's her personality.

And that's a great point Corey yeah I down.

Yeah.

And if if it's like something she does it like no like absolutely not.

And Corey can really skate can she.

Yeah absolutely.

You know and and it's not only that it's like it's equating to like when I hiked thousands of miles.

Right.

Like it's not doing it one day.

It's getting up and doing it every day.

Like that's a grind.

That's the really that's like harder than just like that competition is how many decades of experience and practice and going and doing it like, that's tough.

How much better are you now than are you?

Are you the best you've ever been right now on the ice.

Good.

In journey we're.

High bar Corey.

Corey is going to be competing and coming up.

it's just been it's so interesting to hear about this relationship and what the students are doing.

okay.

Before I get Barbara's call people are going to ask do I, do we get to see the work in the community?

How can we do that?

Yeah, the work will be, on the website, which is Special Olympics hyphen NY Dot photos, which is our sort of photo specific site.

And, hopefully the station can link to that and will be running the social media accounts for Special Olympics New York.

So the images will be there as well.

And those are probably the best places to see it.

And the audiences from that website can go back and look at past year's coverage as well.

All right, Barbara, thanks for wait and go ahead.

Hi there.

This is just a sidebar comment, but I wanted to, praise the idea of storytelling because, you know, I think youth, of today, shall we say, read less than they used to.

and, one of the things that reading does is inspire imagination.

And, that's what NPR does, which is like reading.

When you listen to the stories you are picturing and imagining and, developing parts of your brain that might have been neglected.

And I just think it's so, so, so important.

I experienced that myself.

And another role in life where by storytelling, is an amazing, relationship to the audience.

And it really does a lot to the individual.

Barbara, can I mention what that other role is?

I think you're hinting it.

Well, it's immaterial, but it's.

Barbara is a very good Susan B, I just want to say Barbara is a is a scholar herself and, a real credit to the community.

I appreciate the points here.

And so let me just thank you, Barbara.

It's always great to hear from you.

but the broader point, I don't think that's a sidebar.

I think that this hour has been about learning how to really tell the personal stories, not just sort of ephemeral, faraway photography, but a relationship trust, understanding that this has been, as Travis was just saying, day after day after day, the grind to get to the point where now you're competing in Special Olympics, now you're competing against world athletes.

you know, maybe you're going to travel, maybe you're going to have be a competitor who is literally up against international competition.

That doesn't happen overnight.

And Barbara, I think that's a beautiful sentiment that that storytelling really does still matter.

So, you know, Travis, you made that a center point of what you've told us today.

I'll ask you, how do you how do you see the state of journalism that this world that you're entering now?

how are we doing as a society with storytelling?

Yeah.

I mean, I think, I think we're in flux, but I think that there's, you know, I think there's light on the horizon, though, like your previous guest, V, I was listening to that as I was driving in, you know, and I think that there's a role for independent journalism.

I think there's people that are doing great things doing that.

I also think we need to be careful with that, too, though, like democratization of information is not always the best thing.

I think there's a lot of value in my education about how to publish pictures, how to how you portray a person being very cognizant of that.

and I think that that can be dangerous on social media, like a lot of people don't think about that, and they don't have, the understanding that we get, because that's what we do.

Like we are professionals at that.

That is our job.

And we we don't always get it right.

But I do think that journalism is on the upswing.

And I think that you can point at documentary movies and the success that they've had and how much they've taken that off.

And I think that that's a bright spot.

and it shows how interested people are in those stories.

so I think that journalism, you know, I think, I think it's interesting with our incoming administration and our new president, I think that he's very dangerous personally, as far as he how he views it as a tool to promote himself rather than getting at the truth.

but that's my personal opinion about that.

Other people obviously think differently.

but I think that journalism is a service, and no matter who's in power, I think that we are responsible for letting the public know what the facts are.

and all the views of whatever that news happens to be.

You're welcome to come back here any time.

I've really enjoyed talking to you this hour.

and thanks.

Appreciate getting to know you.

Travis Lacoste is a fourth year photojournalism student at RIT.

And, a big part of what we've been talking about this hour in our show notes, wherever you find your podcasts or, I think we can do show notes on YouTube.

Hey, we're gonna we're all learning as we go here the first week on YouTube for connections on the WXXI news YouTube page in our show notes, we'll get you linked up so you can see some of the images and make sure you're connected to everything that is going on.

You know, the dates coming up and you know how to root for Corey Peele's our star here.

When are you back on the ice?

When?

When's your next training session?

Ice skate.

Sunday.

On Sunday?

Yep.

Yeah.

always.

Probably a day or two away from the ice.

The next one here.

Oh, yes.

Good luck to you.

Thank you very much.

Corey.

It's been so lovely to talk to you over the years.

Thank you.

You're welcome back any time.

You're so good at what you do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Corey Peels, Travis Lacoste and Jen Poggi and Josh Meltzer from RIT.

Thank you both for your expertise and for sharing these wonderful stories with us.

Thanks for having us.

Thank you.

Thank you for having us.

Casey.

The team from Special Olympics New York, thank you, Casey, for joining us earlier this hour.

And thanks from the whole team at connections.

Thank you for listening, for watching and for interacting with this program.

We are back with you tomorrow on member supported public media.

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