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Ayanna Perez, 11, is “DJ Ferrell” for the Middletown Youth Radio
Project. |
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| Posted 04.21.08 |
WESU Hosts 25th Live Broadcast of Youth Radio
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The Middletown Youth Radio Project (MYRP), Central Connecticut's premier
youth radio training program, aired its 25th live broadcast April 18 on
Wesleyan’s WESU 88.1 FM.
From 6:30 to 7 p.m., two young DJs hit the airwaves and play their
newest original songs, stories, poems, and commentaries, interspersed with
anecdotes and their favorite tunes of the week.
 MYRP is a weekly radio program written, produced, and hosted by kids ages
10-17. The first live broadcast aired on Sept. 10, 2007. The youth, many of
whom live in the Traverse Square Housing Community that is located across
the street from WESU, began training in April 2007 and participated in a
free three-week radio camp in August. Since then, they have met every week
to learn audio recording and production, on-air DJ skills, and the
ins-and-outs of running a weekly radio show.
"All members involved in MYRP -- youth DJs, college student staff, the WESU
community, and the listeners -- are drawn to it because the project
genuinely excites them," says Muriel Mu Abeledo '09, founder and co-program
director of MYRP. “MYRP is a space for local youth to get their voices out there, without
having to be filtered by other means. Behind-the-scenes it is a community
building project that brings many types of people together.”
In the past, the young DJs have written commentaries about global warming,
produced original hip-hop rhymes and beats, written poems about their best
friends, penned songs about love and religion, and produced a radio play.
MYRP has produced over 40 original radio pieces and many more are in the
works.
Ayanna Perez, 11, who goes by “DJ Ferrell” on the air, looks forward to
hosting her program.
"I always wanted this opportunity that I could record something and be on
the radio,” she says. “It makes me really happy."
John Duke, 9, who goes by “DJ MK Pokemon Dude” says he feels like “dancing”
when he hears his own music on the radio.
Now in their second season, the young DJs field calls from listeners
throughout the state of Connecticut.
"There are unlimited directions this project can go in to bring more people
together, and that use radio itself as a tool for community development,”
Abeledo says. “With a volunteer staff of 10 and a youth DJ staff of 12,
strong connections with parents and the Traverse Square community, funding
by the Wesleyan Student Budgetary Committee, and the support and airtime
from WESU, MYRP is going steady and gearing up for the final shows of its
second season.” |
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