By Zoe Moran – 10th Grade, Pittsburgh Obama Academy

When you were little, did you ever dream of becoming a rockstar?  Now you can turn that dream into reality!

WYEP has a Rock Radio Camp for kids learn how to write scripts for radio promos and even get to do one of their favorite songs that would go on the air. I spoke with one of the staff members at the Rock radio camp, Thria.  She is an intern at WYEP and worked on their reimagine project back in September. She was emailed and asked to help out with the rock radio camp and of course she agreed.

During this camp kids write scripts for their own radio segment and some are even 40 minutes long! They were taught about the communication process of being a radio host and they learned many of the professional techniques. During the week, special guests came in and taught the campers. One guest they had was a DJ who taught them how to use turntables. Another guest was a singer/songwriter, and he taught them one of his songs and then recorded it with the campers singing the chorus. The Sunburst music group was also a special guest who came in and gave them a drum lesson.

Thria said throughout this camp she has seen kids open up. One student always worked alone and was very quiet and then she took him on a walk in a record store and he opened up and talked the whole time. Thria said, “It’s great to see kids open up about music. Music has a really positive effect on them.”

During this camp, the kids learned a lot about music. They broke up songs, articulated what they learned, and the special guests answered all of their questions about music. When I went there it was the last hour of the last day and all the kids were filled with so much energy. The campers were very talented; I heard some play guitar and it blew me away. Those kids at 10 years old are playing like rock stars. Rock Radio Camp helped the kids learn about something that is a big component of all their lives.

 Zoe Moran is in 10th grade at Pittsburgh Obama Academy. She lives in the South Side and took a journalism class in school. She also enjoys photography.