88.5 WFDD’s multi-tiered education program was born in 2010, out of a desire first and foremost to give the youth of our community both the skills and tools to share their stories . . . but also to create new public media advocates, and to grow and diversify the future talent pool for public media. On the surface, Radio 101 and Radio Camp are youth-driven projects, but they are so much more than that. In just one week, Radio Camp students learn the basics of audio production and produce an audio story ready to air on 88.5 WFDD. Radio 101 works with high-school students interested in audio storytelling. Over the course of one semester, they produce at least one feature story on a topic of their interest. Both projects are catalysts for community engagement and social change – beyond that, they produce revenue for the station.
Our Education Program is at the core of what public radio is: more than just radio, it is an idea– committed to public service, community engagement, education and creating content with substance, purpose and a uniquely human voice. Public radio was born in colleges and universities across the country where young people would experiment with the medium to entertain and educate. We are bringing that curiosity back to young students across our listening area, and we are creating engaging content along the way.
Eight years ago we started with this idea: create a multi-tiered education program to engage the youth of our community and provide an outlet for them to share their stories. It was our feeling that too often our society treats young people as though they have nothing significant to say . . . that their stories, personal experiences and opinions aren’t important and don’t matter. We wanted to change that. Our vision included programs for students from middle school age through college, starting with a week-long summer day camp for kids aged 10 – 13.