A Q&A with Oscar Mireles

Poet and educator Oscar Mireles reflects on sixty years of writing, dreaming, serving and encouraging others toward success.

Describe yourself in one sentence
Eternally jovial, encouraging nurturer, unrepentant lover of life.

What are you currently working on?
I’m trying to figure out how to get our students to pass the new computer-based, Common Core standards-aligned GED test. Our team of staff and volunteers and I have created a plan! We have the resources and community support; I just have to be a little more patient.

What do children and young adults need most from the school system?
A personal connection to someone who sees them as a whole person, not a set of circumstances.

How do you use writing to elevate society or educate?
I try to provide a voice to the voiceless, and to express my own perspective as a Latino man. I try to captivate the universal, mythic aspects of my personal and intimate experiences.

What is the most common misconception that you run into about education?
I have not yet met a parent who wasn’t interested in the education of their child, regardless of their own educational background or failures. Some parents may not have the skills to help their children, but the interest in the betterment of the future of their children is certainly always there.

And what is the most common misconception about yourself that you encounter regularly?
Some people feel that they know me through my work as a writer, but…

Read Full Article by Maggie Ginsberg, Madison Magazine