O’Dowd students in Molleen Dupree-Dominguez’s Justice In Action classes are among those from several Bay Area high schools who have been invited to help make content for KQED as part of the Youth Takeover project. Launched last year, the project seeks to elevate the voices of the youth community through stories that matter to them.
The O’Dowd students pitched their stories to KQED producers and staff on February 13 and received constructive feedback on how to proceed with their pieces. Program Manager for Student Media and Classroom Learning Teresa Wierzbianska ’96 was on hand for the work session, as well as Youth Media Specialist Chanelle Ignant and Associate Director, Partnerships, for the California edition of PBS LearningMedia Almetria Vaba, a current O’Dowd parent. KQED Youth Advisory Board member Olivia Sally ’20 also sat in on the session and helped critique the pitches.
The next step for the students is to actually write and produce their radio stories and submit them to KQED. Producers at the station will review them and choose several for broadcasting. The selected pieces will be featured on air in late April and the others will be published on the KQED website.
“I was nervous pitching my story to the people from KQED, but they were very kind, reassuring, and helpful. They actually know a student from another high school who is interested in doing a similar story, so we might collaborate and do it together!” Alden O’Rafferty ’19 said.
Dominguez is thrilled to have her students participate in this program. “It provides real-world experience for my students and allows them to get honest feedback from professionals in the field. It really makes their research and contemplation seem relevant to contemporary society – it’s a teacher’s dream!” she said.