Time—On Teens' Terms
Chicago’s After School Matters is a national model for involving older students in activities to develop their skills and talents.
In a city park facility on the South Side, about 25 Chicago teenagers warm up their speaking voices by using tongue twisters. “A big black bug bit a big black bear,” they recite, using clear pronunciation and getting faster with each repetition.
After the exercises, a young man sitting at a laptop computer plays recordings, which he mixed himself, that will be used later that week at the students’ first radio program taped in front of a live audience. “Listen in and now you know. Teen Talk Radio,” plays the theme song, a blend of singing and rap.
Exploring serious issues, such as dating violence, rape, and suicide, the short public service announcements and radio dramas were all written, produced, directed, and performed by the students as they worked in...
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