Teens' on-the-air effort wins award

Published on March 11th, 2010

By ROSE COX

Take a remote island, teens whose first language is anything but English, and a penchant for adventure and what do you get? The award-winning "Outdoors Unalaska" radio show.

The project by English as a Second Language students at Unalaska City School was among this year's 20 recipients of the Spirit of Youth awards. The ninth- through 12th-grade class was chosen from 150 worthy nominees by the nonprofit Spirit of Youth program, created in 1997 to recognize youth involvement in communities across Alaska.

Just reading the Web site at www.spiritofyouth.org is enough to dispel negative perceptions about teens.

The winners of this year's award co-founded the only marching band in Anchorage, organized safe and drug-free events for teens in Nome, built a sober house for inebriates in Nenana, led a volunteer fire department in Aniak, convinced the City of Homer to support renewable energy and repaired kids' bicycles in Brevig Mission.

They entertained at fundraisers, mentored children in the art of magic, taught traditional Korean dance, helped preserve Tlingit culture, installed a wheelchair ramp for elders, volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club, educated their peers on nutrition, reduced landfill trash, led a campaign for sustainable schools and improved the state foster care system.

Going 'Outdoors'

Aura Beatty's class at Unalaska City School created the radio program "Outdoors Unalaska" as a project to improve their English speaking skills. The award was a surprise bonus, said ninth-grader Rizalie Rollin, who moved to Unalaska from the Philippines less than a year ago.

"We thought this project was just for fun, experience and grades, too," Rollin said. "I feel proud of the ESL class, because out of 150 nominees, we didn't expect this."

Beatty realized when she was teaching ESL summer school in 2009 that she had an amazing group of kids. She was casting around for ideas to bring the recent immigrants out of their shells, and she'd heard about other rural towns that engaged students in radio broadcast.

"I wanted to get my class more involved in the community," Beatty said. "I thought, wouldn't it be fun if we just thought about putting together a radio show, and then it kind of morphed into its own little creature."

The students worked with Anne Hillman, news director for local KUCB 89.7 FM radio station, to create the program. For the first broadcast in September, students interviewed each other about their own experiences. Hillman taught them how to use the equipment, and helping them feel comfortable speaking on tape.

"When they hear their voice on the radio the first time, every time, people are kind of excited," Hillman said. "Especially the kids are excited that the whole community is going to hear them."

Interviewing hikers, divers

Students interviewed hiker Dan Young about his solo crossing of Unalaska Island for the October broadcast. Next they talked to Jeannette Alas about her five-month, 2,650-mile trek from the Mexican border to the Canadian border on the Pacific Crest Trail. Students are editing the audio for the next show, an interview with Unalaska Divers members Reid Brewer, Billie Jo Gehring, Jennifer Shockley and Katherine McGlashan about diving and local marine conservation issues.

In addition to developing the questions and interviewing, students write the scripts for the shows and are learning to edit the audio tape for this project that doubles as English language instruction and community entertainment. Maybe a dozen listeners in the community nominated the project for the spirit award, Beatty said.

"People get a big kick out of it. Really, we could have done the project within the four walls of our classroom, but sharing it with the community makes it more meaningful."

Speaking in English to people she does not know makes her nervous, said 10th-grader Cris Ryan Lanojan, who hails from the Philippines. But she's learned to push through those uncomfortable feelings. In addition to building her confidence, the project has taught her how to speak loudly and clearly, and improved her pronunciation and punctuation, she said.

Working in a group takes some of the pressure off, said 10th-grader Johnny Nguyen, whose native language is Vietnamese.

"It's not so hard when you're doing it in a group," he said. "You have other people there asking questions, so it's not only you."

Upcoming "Outdoors Unalaska" programs will feature Jeff Dickrell talking about Aleut kayaks and other topics including subsistence issues and Nepalese culture.

Hillman has come full circle with the class.

"I interviewed them the other day about wining this award. We went through it once and then interviewed. Even off the cuff, they were articulate and got their ideas across."