Eastern Washington teens talk about school and being super awkward

September 20, 2018 / 3:04 pm

caption: Participants and mentors in RadioActive's April 2018 radio storytelling workshop for teens at WSU in the Tri-Cities, in partnership with NW Public Broadcasting.

In April 2018, RadioActive ran our first youth radio journalism workshop in the Tri-Cities. Eleven teens spent a weekend learning how to record and edit audio, write scripts and speak on air, mentored by professional journalists.

Listen to clips of the short radio stories produced in our Tri-Cities workshop in today's podcast. Plus check out the full stories below.

Ethnic studies in high school

These teens think ethnic studies should be mandatory in all high schools.

caption: Zech Cyr, Joshua Sivonen, and Anisa Rodriguez produced this story with support from mentor Esmy Jimenez. Special thanks to Vanessa and Leonard Moore (on left) of the Tri-Cities African American Community, Cultural, and Educational Society.

Did you learn about Che Guevara in school? The three teens who produced this first story think they should have: "Ethnic studies are important to create open-mindedness and eliminate prejudice. If we don't learn our history, we don't know who we are."

College admissions

Why is it harder to get into college these days? These two teens want to know.

caption: Madison Morgan and Mitchel Denke produced this story with support from mentor Robiel Bahta. Special thanks to Jana Kay Lunstad (not pictured).

College acceptance rates are going down and tuition prices are going up. In this story, two Tri-Cities teens talk about why some qualified students aren't getting into the colleges they want.

Awkward cake

Sharing and analyzing some of the awkward situations we all experience.

caption: Trevor Arm, Laura Belen Sandoval, and Isaac Robertshaw produced this story, with support from mentor Kyle Norris.

Awkward situations are normal, and we should just embrace them. That's what these three teens believe. In this story they share some examples and talk about what goes into an "awkward cake."

Truly awkward

More awkward stories from Tri-Cities teens.

caption: Alex Michael, Mollie Greenough, and Colton Tinnin produced this story, with support from mentor Azeb Tuji.

Sometimes we all feel like we're the odd one out, but that's okay. The three teen producers of our last story remind us that these awkward situations can lead to growth.

The stories in this podcast were created in KUOW's RadioActive community workshop series for teens. This workshop was produced in collaboration with Washington State University in the Tri-Cities and Northwest Public Broadcasting.

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