My name is Minnie and I recently created a youth radio group, "Left of the Dial," at my highschool. The process was long, arduous, and filled with a lot of obstacles.

Pitching the Idea

I pitched the idea to my high school principal in late September and early October. Then, I was still working out the kinks of the idea. My principal liked the idea, but didn't know how we would come up with the money, equipment, or even interested students for the group. I was fortunate in that my principal had actually started a similar program at the high school years ago, but it had been mostly a one-time deal. With the go-ahead with my principal, I began looking around for guidance.

When pitching the idea of your radio group, make sure you have several projects that you'd like the students to at least think about. I pitched the idea of a youth radio group in which the students will create one vox pop and work on a single, capstone segment on a topic of their choice. It helps to have someone working in radio to help you figure out what are some reasonable goals given your timeframe.

Contacting the Experts

I contacted a bunch of people that knew more about youth radio groups than I did. I think this is probably why I ended up being successful, because I ultimately knew how much effort it would take to get this up and running. I would recommend Sarah Levine from Curie Youth Radio, because she was really friendly and helpful through email.

Soon after contacting some folks, my AP Literature & Composition teacher said he would be willing to sponsor the colloquium. I was also fortunate that we run on a block schedule, because I get 3 hours a week with my youth radio group, during school time.

When contacting individuals, it's best to call. I did email some individuals, including my boss, Shannon. Remain professional, ask your questions, and make sure to thank them for their time. If they provide you helpful information, think about it! And if that somebody is someone in the radio business, ask them if they're willing to help with the group, give a mini-lecture, or anything of the sort.

Who's Paying For This, Again?

Finances. This was the super-hard part. I spoke with Johanna about how I was going to be able to come up with this money. She gave me a lot of great suggestions. I had to pare down the group to fewer students, buy fewer recorders, and the ones I did buy had to be cheap. We managed to get 12 recorders for $39 each. We use Audacity for audio editing, borrowed 12 closed-headphones for the students from the music departments and are using nice DELL computers that our school just bought. With the money we had left, we bought cables to connect the recorders to the computers, and we were set. Students brought in their own USB and jumpdrives and those who didn't saved their work on mine.

Now, you're probably wondering HOW I got the money. The student council at my school has a system of grant-giving. Each Tuesday morning, they review grant proposals and give varying amounts of money. I requested $500. They gave me $460. This was the greatest amount student council had given to any one group, and they were particularly impressed with my idea. I did search for grants, contacted Chicago Public Radio, Vocalo, and even college radio stations. None of them could provide any financial assistance or any donations of equipment.

If you're looking for money, I would suggest looking within your own school, first. Ask your student groups, your business manager or your principal. Someone is bound to know how to apply for a grant. My sponsor also knew about a Chicago arts and performance grant that our school has applied to for a lot of its major events. This may be the same case for your school. It is worth asking.

If the project is a bit more ambitious, you'll need to get funds from bigger organizations, like the McCormick-Tribune foundation. You should know that, however, they usually reward established groups and they work on a fixed schedule. You might not hear back from them for months, so if you're planning to do this next year, or in a few months, start applying for grants as soon as possible. Get a teacher to help you write the grant, as they can sometimes be pretty extensive.

On the Radio

Next, I established a relationship with a radio station. My former boss now works at Vocalo and so I gave her a heads up about the group. I also contacted two different people at the station, explained the group idea to them, and asked whether they'd like to help in any way. Now we're going to be working with Vocalo, having a representative or two come down and give a mini-lecture, and then finally, we'll have a field trip.

To get a relationship like this up and running, I'd advise you to contact the nearest NPR station, community radio stations and college radio stations. Ask them whether they'd like to help out with the group, and try to give concrete ways that they can help. If they can't help with funding, try asking them to come and give a mini-lesson on radio, on the history of community radio stations, or the like. Developing this relationship is key.

Finally!

It took a lot of work to get this group going. And as Johanna knows, I was really determined to get this done. This is my last year at my high school and I wanted to leave a legacy. The students in the group are really excited about doing their segments. Just this week, they've mixed segments about their dreams. In two weeks, they will have completed a vox pop. By the end of the school year, they will have finished a segment of their own topic.

I'm excited for the group and I'm glad everything ended up working out. It's easy to get discouraged and give up, thinking that the only people that can make a radio group are individuals that are rich, or older than you. This is just not the case. Even if it's difficult, it's possible. Get as much information as possible on radio groups. Educate yourself. Overeducate yourself. Then try and give it a go.

I wish you the best of luck.