Teen Platform
Be sure not to miss out on our brand new program called “Teen Platform”, voicing the opinions and emotions of the youth in this awesome local community right here in Humboldt County, California. We will be airing it here on Blue Ox Youth and Community Radio on 97.7 Fm, on Saturdays and Sundays, 3 - 5 pm, and Mondays 5 - 7 pm. If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to contact the program coordinator M. Youssef by phone at 707.444.9770 or you can e-mail him at MY_KindredSpirit (at) yahoo (dot) com.
Blue Ox Radio is proud to introduce our newest program called “Teen Platform”! We understand that the youth of our community have a voice, and with each voice there comes a unique story and message. We also believe that since the youth represent the future, that they need to have their voices heard. We need to know where their feelings and emotions are coming from, or why they believe in something the way that they do, so that we can fully understand them. We also need to let them feel welcomed into the community, as well as assure them that they do matter, and that we will take the time to hear them out. So we set up an audio forum for the community so that we could do just exactly that.
“Teen Platform” features the voices and opinions of the teenage youth throughout Humboldt County. They have many options to express themselves. They can choose to recite poetry, play music, perform a skit that they have written, interview anyone, record any type of community event…basically they can express themselves in any fashion as long as it is positive, educational, and meaningful.
Everything that you hear on “Teen Platform” is considered "by teens, for teens." When you hear this program, remember that the students are taught how to record, edit, and produce their own portion of an audio piece, which in turn becomes a part of “Teen Platform”. Through the wonderful people at TAPESTRY, we received $750 of grant funding for purchasing equipment. Although that does not sound like a lot of money for purchasing music equipment, Youssef was able to work out a huge Christmas sale deal through Musician’s Friend allowing us to equip 7 school sites with professional studio equipment. This includes an 8 input Behringer Mixer, an Audio-Technica M4000S top of the line microphone with a boom stand, microphone clip and cord, as well as a pair of professional studio headphones from Gemini. Using this equipment, teens are able to record onto a computer using a free audio program called Audacity. They are also taught how to produce beats, produce public service announcements, set up stages for live or studio recordings, as well as become informed about FCC regulations when working out of a radio station. This program is so cool! We don’t think there is anything else like this comprehensive program within the public media at all within Northern California.
This program has been put together by the Humboldt County Office of Education, TAPESTRY (Teen-Adult Partnership for Enhancing Strategies Toward Responsible Youth), as well as YouthServe AmeriCorps. Funding for this program has been made possible through the California Department of Public Health Office of Family Planning Grant # 05-45276. Thanks again to all those who helped make this all possible!