We had a great night at our American Graduate Student Showcase! WSKG welcomed students, families, and partners to our station for a first-listen of students’ AmGrad stories. Students were honored for their great work and were able to tour the Radio and TV studios.
So proud of them!
“When I was younger I didn’t really care about school, mostly because I was just lazy. As I got older, I realized that without school, I’d be in the same exact position as my father.”
Iggy learned many things while staying with his father- how to fix things, how to play instruments, and how to have fun without spending money.
Listen to Iggy’s American Graduate Story to hear the most important lesson he’s learned. Awesome story, Iggy!
While the primary focus of Youth Voice is on radio skills, we also incorporate digital reporting into our programs. This Tumblr page, for example, is a tool that students use to share their stories (and their voice) in a digital format. The first digital experience involves students exploring the professional uses of social media outlets— Something that very few teens have experience with, but something that is very relevant to careers in media.
Professional social media has been a useful window into digital reporting during our projects. Seeing as one of our goals is to expose students to journalism and broadcast careers, it is great to read that we are providing these young minds with a real-world experience in journalism!
“…If you come from a family with a family income above $90,000, you have a 1 in 2 chance of getting a bachelor’s degree by the time you’re in your mid-20s.
If you come from a family under $35,000, you have a 1 in 17 chance.”
Jeffrey Selingo, an editor with The Chronicle of Higher Education, argues that American colleges have lost their way. In College (Un)bound, he describes the challenges facing American higher education and takes a close look at what college students are getting in return for their tuition.
This is a great no-fluff article, but those two sentences jumped out at us as bring red flags! The author stated that these numbers were “one of the most disturbing numbers I came across in research for this book…”
We couldn’t agree more, Mr. Selingo. Many of us are members of this second group of families, so this statistic is incredibly disheartening!
What can be done to change this?
“All learning is understanding relationships.”
George Washington Carver
This first TED Talks made-for-television special features inspirational speakers and focuses on the value and importance of human connection-Relationships. As in TEACHERS. One speaker shares, “No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship.”
Do you agree? Could focusing on the human relationships between student and teacher help improve the US education system?
TED Talks Education premiers May 7th on PBS.
Did a 19-year old just solve the world’s energy problems?
At 14, Taylor Wilson became the youngest person to achieve fusion — with a reactor born in his garage. Now he wants to save our seaports from nuclear terror.
Check out Taylor’s impressive TED TALKS!
“I also feel like, as an American, it is my duty to graduate, so I can help my county not go further down the road of unemployment,” says Tim. “I know when I get a job and make money and spend money, it will help the economy out.”
Tim, Grade 11, talks about his reasons for becoming a high school graduate. Tim plans to pursue a career as a pipeline welder.
This young man has such a unique and mature viewpoint!
It is no longer enough in some schools for students to run around during gym. Now they are often taught math or English or health at the same time.
I do not think it is a good idea to incorporate math and English into gym class. The reasons I do not think it is a good idea is because gym class is supposed to be a place were kids can have fun.
I think you could put English and math or any subject into gym class if the school or even that grade level has low test sores in those subjects. For example, the kids could count while stretching. But I do not think middle school or high school kids will accept this, but elementary kids may be open to try it.
—Quintel, Grade 7
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature’s first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Robert Frost
"— I can relate to this poem of reminiscing in the old days, but those golden days must fade to make more golden days. Most times when listening to elders talk of their golden years, it is mostly about when they were in school. But when ask, “Is school your Golden Years?” a teen would mostly say, “No!” But for more elderly people, they would say, “Yes.”
One of the reasons for teens saying this is because most of them want to either fast forward into adulthood or go back to a younger age. Sometimes your teens years are just all messed up and you don’t want anyone to know about it—family problems, economic problems, social statue problems, dating problems.
Another reason is friends. We make friends and we loose friends. Most of my friends don’t go to the same school as me. How is does this effect my education? It changes it because I’m not as social at school and have more time to get my work done. I still have fun and enjoy them, just don’t interact as much. You always see groups of friends talking to each at lunch.
Those friends that don’t want to be in school will do their best to get you to skip with them. I’ve got enough friends at the high school who try to talk me out of my education. You can skip school all you want and waste your time, but I’m not missing my education. And waste a nice chunk of education!
Tax payers pay money so you can go to school, so you can get an education, so you can get a job and pay taxes—A complete cycle. But there are a select few who say to tax payers, “Ha! I’m going to waste your money!” Well, it’s not just a select few… It’s a lot of them. I think the number is 25% of kids who won’t graduate.
But there are some friends who will help you do your work and stay in school.
—Timothy, Grade 10
So many giggles, so many reads, so many priceless bloopers to be pulled from today’s audio… =)
A fun afternoon with middle school American Graduate students at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center in Ithaca, NY.
I can’t wait for graduation day to get here!!!
—Shane, Grade 12
Shane is participating in WSKG American Graduate program through the Boys & Girls Clubs of Binghamton, NY. He has overcome many challenges to reach graduation, and we are excited to share his American Graduate story with you in May. Shane will be attending SUNY Delhi in the fall to continue his automotive training. CONGRATS SHANE!
American Hand III from filmmaker Jon Walley
I can relate to Mark in this video with old vehicles and old equipment that doesn’t get used. I think Mark is correct about how all of today’s vehicles are crammed with newer equipment that cars don’t really need, all of the aftermarket parts that are added on.
You don’t want to buy a new car and just throw something on there or change the engine or mess with the fuel and air ratios. Lots of kids are putting too big of a turbo in and that can cause damage to an engine.
In automotive tech, I like doing drum and disk brakes and compression testing. My dream job would be to build up on older cars from the 60s or even earlier.
I think the tech these days is getting hard to work with and figure out. The older things actually seem pretty easy to work because they don’t have half of the computerized equipment in it. I will still work on newer cars with all the computerized equipment, but it’s harder to work on them. Like Mark said, older cars are easier to work on— Just wheels, engine components, and steering, with a body and frame.
With the technically today, you either learn it or don’t get a job in it. I think I’m in the minority of my age group. I’m not really “up to date,” as people would say.
I am in this media program that uses lots of technology. It’s different from the everyday things I do— Most of the time I just stick to exercising, working on cars, doing school work. I have a type of stage-fright when recording and I’m still not sure how to use the recording equipment. I talk to people on a daily basis but it’s different than with a microphone in your face.
Radio is pretty old because I grew up listening to satellite and CDs, rarely did I tune in to a specific radio station.
Once you use something for a while, it gets old and you won’t use it again. Like the radio stations, people don’t really tune into that anymore. If they do, it’s bc they don’t have their iPod at the moment or they’re in their car and decide to flip through the channels.
-Shane, Grade 12
I think it is a good thing if a high school coach tells the football team, “If you don’t go to study hall, then you don’t play.”
I agee with this coach because you also need to learn. In my school, if you get bad grades you don’t get to play for 5 games. I think that student don’t like this but they should because you also need good grades.
Nazier, Grade 8
Youth Voice uses the power of media to empower youth and offer the community a chance to experience the often unheard voice of teens. Local youth investigate topics they feel are important to them and the communities in which they live.
Students from our High School Video Workshop are screening their films tonight! We’re putting the finishing touches together, and looking forward...
An old WNYC plaque from… somewhere… found in a barn upstate, via eBay, to director of archives Andy Lanset.
Follow the Archives on Twitter.
Leo Burnett - Raising the Roof (2010) - Awareness campaign for Canada’s homeless
Brilliant and wrenching.
According to The Mo Ibrahim Foundation report titled African Youth: Fulfilling the Potential, the continental average...
Who can argue with that?
Watch this video we put together. Went to a Brooklyn block party and grilled kids on what they know about the election. Kids are rad.
This is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing!
Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
-John Dewey
Probably my favorite educational quote!
