Skip to main content
Img 4641

RadioActive

By

Stories produced by students participating in our youth media program. Meet the current youth producers, and learn more about the intensive, fun and free introductory radio journalism workshops we offer throughout the year. 

caption: The summer 2023 class of RadioActive Youth Media.
Enlarge Icon
The summer 2023 class of RadioActive Youth Media.
KUOW Photo/Lila Lakehart

Episodes

  • caption: Karishma Vahora poses in a University of Washington sweatshirt in January 2019 when she was a sophomore at UW. Karishma is the first person in her family to go to college.

    ‘College is a way to survive.’ Advice from a first-gen college student

    Karishma Vahora is a senior at the University of Washington and the first person in her family to go to college. She is also my best friend's older sister. I will apply to college in a few years, so I asked Karishma about her experience navigating the college admissions process, and the lessons she learned along the way.
  • caption: Coltrane Fisher

    My friend’s in recovery. Music helped him survive

    My friend Coltrane Fisher is a 17-year-old musician and quite the character. As kids, we bonded over our similar love for music but drifted apart at the end of middle school as Coltrane started experimenting with hard drugs. By the beginning of high school, Coltrane went to rehab for opioids, among other drugs including alcohol.
  • caption: Lisa Chua (left) is a full-time homeschool mom to her two kids Emily and Anthony. Some high school students in Washington State are required to fulfill a 40-hour community service requirement. Here, Emily and Anthony are seen volunteering for Pacific Science Center’s guest services department. They enjoyed it so much that they ended up contributing over 200 hours each.

    From software engineer to full-time homeschool mom

    Some people may think that homeschooling is only for celebrities or the reclusively religious, but my family doesn’t fall into either category. After 10 years of homeschooling I’ve just graduated high school. I talked with my mom about why she gave up a career in software engineering to homeschool me and my brother.
  • caption: Row 1: Ruby Lee, Adar Abdi, Lyn Strober-Cohen and Kouther Ahmed. Row 2: Abdul Hameed, Sarah Pham, Jared Lam and Luis Hernandez Vargas. Row 3: Sam Habtemichael, Emily Chua, Hebaq Farah and Gabe Rambayon.

    Meet KUOW's Summer 2020 RadioActive youth producers

    KUOW's RadioActive Youth Media offered our 17th annual summer introductory workshop for teens. In our first ever all-virtual workshop, twelve teens, aged 15-19, spent three weeks learning what it means to be a radio journalist. They did all of the research, interviews, writing, voicing and editing to produce their own short radio stories from home. By the end of the three weeks, the group produced twelve profile stories.
  • caption: Gabe Rambayon with his teacher and basketball coach, Jeffrey Forbes Jr.

    My Federal Way teacher is a role model to students of color like me

    For students of color, having a teacher with the same race or ethnicity has shown to improve test scores and reduce the likeliness of disciplinary issues. Yet only 20% of educational leaders in the United States are people of color. Jeffrey Forbes Jr. is my teacher and basketball coach at Decatur High School in Federal Way. But more than that, he is my role model.
  • caption: Ahmed Ahmed at his graduation from Tyee High School in 2019. He is now a student at Highline College.

    My brother’s move to a new school, from South Africa to SeaTac

    The start of a new school year is often met with nervous excitement. With many schools moving to online learning this year, students are adjusting to new learning environments. RadioActive youth producer Kouther Ahmed spoke to her brother about his transition from middle school to high school -- and his transition from South Africa to SeaTac.
  • caption: Morgen White: "This is a photo of me getting ready for work in the morning. I work at Trader Joe’s in Ballard, in Seattle. I always put my mask on before I leave the house."

    Photos of my life as a teen essential worker, supporting my family

    The coronavirus pandemic allowed RadioActive’s Morgen White to work at Trader Joe’s during school hours. Morgen, who recently graduated from Ballard High School in north Seattle, chronicled her life during this pandemic for KUOW – from working at Trader Joe’s, to accompanying her mom to work, and watching her classmates graduate.

  • caption: Customers pick up to-go orders at the North Star Diner in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood. The sign above the door advertising cocktails has taken on a new meaning during the pandemic: Relaxed liquor laws have allowed restaurants to sell sealed bottles of liquor for takeout and delivery. The North Star Diner has opted not to use delivery apps like GrubHub during the lockdown; instead, the restaurant's staff deliver orders themselves.

    Signs of the times: Messages that popped up across greater Seattle that convey life in lockdown

    The coronavirus pandemic has led to a shift in the language on signs, marquees and message boards throughout the Seattle area. Movie theaters replaced showtimes with words of reassurance, churches began advertising online services, and teachers expressed their love for their students in signs taped to classroom windows. The shift was amplified by the protests for racial justice, which began in late May. RadioActive’s Paul Kiefer scoured the greater Seattle area in search of these signs.

  • caption: Jonathan Lee, age 3, looks outside his window from his home in Renton, Washington, on June 16, 2020, while his two siblings David and Noel play with their parents in the living room. Behind them, their grandparents wash the dishes and look for a snack in the pantry.

    Outside looking in: Photos of families during Covid-19 quarantine

    The coronavirus pandemic has us cooped up inside, spending a lot of time alone, or with a small group of people. RadioActive’s Jadenne Radoc Cabahug set out to photograph what that looks like for KUOW. In her Renton neighborhood, she captured images of neighbors, and her own family members, through their windows.