HOME | MISSION STATEMENT | LISTEN | STUDENTS | PHOTO BLOG APPLICATION | LINKS | CONTACT US The second year of Radio 626 began in January of 2008. Blair and Waverly students kicked off the semester by writing what we call Radio Blogs, otherwise known as commentaries. Students were asked to write about a personal experience or on an issue important to him/her. The first step to creating a Radio Blog is to sit down and start writing. Students practiced recording their Radio Blogs and received feedback from their peers and instructors. The students decided that it is best to speak clearly, enunciate and not mumble or speak too fast when recording their radio stories. After completing their Radio Blogs, students formed teams to tackle bigger radio stories that would involve collaboration, research and interviews. The three teams chose to create stories on global warming, relationships with parents, and drunk driving. Creating and editing these stories is no easy task, as the students discovered. Below are some groups working with Adobe Audition to edit their audio. Be sure to listen to the radio stories created by the 2008 group of Radio 626 students! The inaugural group of Radio 626 began meeting in February, 2007. Participants came into the program with varying degrees of technological ability, but all were enthusiastic to learn how to produce radio stories. Students from Blair and Waverly mixed and got to know each other through interviewing exercises. In doing so, they broke the ice, met new, wonderful people, and practiced an important part of creating a radio story (the interview). The next step was to learn how to use the recorder and microphone to conduct interviews. Each team, consisting of three to four students, practiced using the equipment. Students took turns being interviewed, being the interviewer, being the producer (documenting the content of the recording), and being the recordist (monitoring audio levels for proper sound). Around week six, the class brainstormed several topics that students were interested in exploring. These topics included poverty, pop culture, environmental issues, abuse, apathetic youth, homelessness, music, MySpace/Facebook, Iraq, the Internet, and more. Teams narrowed down the ideas and the students worked together to create interesting stories. Creating a radio story takes a lot of planning, as the students learned. Teams had to decide what their stories would be about, who their target audience would be, and the "So What?" factors: Why is the story important? How should it affect listeners? What is the one thing listeners should remember after hearing the story? Teams had to make a plan of action, including who to interview and when and what kind of research must be done. Students used some out-of-class time to work on their stories. Here is Team 3 conducting an interview in Old Town: In addition to working in teams, several students wrote commentaries on their own to record for Radio 626. Be sure to listen to these great commentaries. Radio 626 students use Adobe Audition to edit audio on laptops. Editing is a painstaking process and the students spent many hours diligently fine-tuning their stories. On May 16, 2007 Radio 626 held a listening party for friends, teachers and parents.