Youth Radio Programs–Part 1 (contains list of links)
Last year in Dr. Tim Evan’s Folklore and Education class I began writing a lesson plan for high school students entitled “Listen Out Loud: Youth Radio Audio Documentation Project.” Inspired by my former work as a public radio producer and the possibilities of combining oral history, folklore, radio, and student-based research, I also drew inspiration and ideas from other youth radio programs such as NPR’s Youth Radio and Youth Radio Vermont at the Vermont Folklife Center.
During my summer internship I worked with the Kentucky Remembers! Project which gave me the wonderful opportunity to work with youth in Bowling Green and Paducah teaching the basics of oral history and folklife interviewing. Students worked in teams to document the oral histories of Civil Rights and human rights leaders in Kentucky. In working with the youth this past summer, and in extended work on the Kentucky Remembers Oral History Curriculum, I realized more than ever the power of the recorded voice to share something essential about what it means to be human. That is through the human voice we share stories, seek a more just world, and become active participants in the wonderful cultures around us. This summer I will continue to work with Kentucky Remembers and will have the opportunity to utilize a new and expanded version of the Listen Out Loud Program to teach those students who attend the Voices of Conscious: Human Rights Leadership Camp how to produce audio documents for radio and podcast. These audio documents will reside on the Kentucky Remembers webpage where they will be used in the public schools and after school programs. A large portion of my independent study is preparing to teach the summer youth camps and create model audio documents. To learn more about this summer’s program go here.
In researching and preparing for this summer program while also preparing the audio editing portion of the Listen Out Loud Audio Documentation Project, I am excited to see that in just the past year since I first began creating the radio documentation lessons, there has been a great proliferation of youth produced radio. Last year I did not come across hardly any lesson plans for this kind of work online. Now, just a year later, I can find multiple approaches. Youth produced radio seems to really be working! As I work on the lesson plans for this summer and prepare for the workshops I will teach in April, below are links to just a few of the youth radio programs I am currently enjoying and learning from.
Know of any more? Or have any other related ideas? Please share!
Note: All of these youth radio programs will also be listed under the “Annotated Bibliographies” section of the blog.
Blunt Youth Radio
Curie Youth Radio
Rise Up Radio
YouthCast
Youth Noise Network
Youth Radio Vermont