Take Notes – a youth media podcast and project in mid-Missouri
KBIA’s Youth Media Program has teamed up with young journalists and podcasters in mid-Missouri. The students are the creators, hosts, producers and editors of their podcasts. The program started as an engagement project with the goal of expanding connections with the community and with the next generation of journalists. Created by KBIA's then-Engagement Producer Kassidy Arena, the project works in collaboration with the local Dream Tree Academy, an after-school program meant primarily for underrepresented students to help break generational cycles.
Take Notes launched in 2023 with a team of about 40 students in and around mid-Missouri’s Boone County. The students are the reporters, hosts, producers and editors for their own radio podcasts. The kids get to decide what the podcasts will be about, whether it’s talking to adults or their favorite music. It’s all about getting the kids in front of a microphone and feeling valued in their perspectives. They learned the ins and outs of audio editing, communicating their thoughts confidently, technical producing skills, interviewing skills and strategic planning. Any student who is interested in helping, whether through interviews, editing, hosting, producing, etc. can take a role.
Much of Kassidy Arena's innovation on this project has served to lay the groundwork for the program; the Youth Media Program has received local community funding to pay for equipment for the student producers, and internal funding has been identified to pay for the time of one KBIA staff producerand also a Missouri School of Journalism student producer to continue the project in collaboration with the students of Dream Tree Academy.
Above you can find the audio that makes up the submission for this category. It includes a promo, Episode 1 and Episode 2 of the "Take Notes" podcast and project, as outlined with time codes and digital links below. You'll hear an audio beep to denote the audio segments.
Thank you for listening!
Guide to Audio Entry:
(00.00-01:25) "Take Notes" podcast promo
(01:30-09:28) "Take Notes" Episode 1
(09:28-14:11) "Take Notes" Episode 2