Clairton CASTLE 2014: “My School or Neighborhood”

Students at Clairton CASTLE were asked to reflect upon their neighborhood or school. The first class did this through a structured round table discussion and a wireless microphone. The second, instead, were asked to draw how they wished their school or neighborhood looked, and then took turns recording their verbal descriptions of their finished drawings.

Clairton CASTLE: H1 101

Clairton CASTLE-ers were introduced to the H1–a handheld, digital recording device. After learning the basics, they then formed small groups and took turns interviewing each other.

Clairton CASTLE 2014: Three Wishes

Students at Clairton CASTLE were asked, if they were to encounter a genie-housing, “Aladdin” rule abiding magic lamp, what would they wish for?

Clairton CASTLE 2014: “Pea-Demonium”

Students at Clairton CASTLE were asked to write a not-so-typical story, one that had to begin like this: “One night, you’re eating dinner with your family, when one of the peas on your plate starts whispering to you. What does it say?” Below are their finished and recorded surreal yarns.

Clairton CASTLE 2014: What I’m Thankful For

On our second meeting of Radio Club–in honor of the quickly approaching, turkey-centric holiday–students were asked to reflect on what they were thankful for.

Clairton CASTLE 2014: Three Things About Me

After a discussion about microphones and digital recorders used in producing features for radio, students in Clairton’s CASTLE program wrote and recorded these pieces where they describe themselves in three ways.

Clairton CASTLE: Makey Makey

Students at Clairton CASTLE were introduced to the Makey Makey, an invention kit that turns everyday objects into touchpads for a computer. From becoming a human piano to playing Pong on oranges, students experimented with basic circuit-building.

Clairton CASTLE: Virtual DJing 101

Students at Clairton’s CASTLE program were introduced to the audio mixing software Virtual DJ Pro, with which they used to alter various songs ranging from The Lion King’s “Hakuna Mata” to Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.”

Clairton Voices

During the 2013-2014 school year, SLB Radio Productions, Inc., in partnership with The Consortium For Public Education, convened a group of middle school boys at Clairton Education Center participating in CASTLE (Clairton’s After -School Teaching & Learning Experience).

While learning about digital audio recording, the group also spent time discussing attributes of male role models and identifying men with a connection to Clairton to be interviewed. With support as needed, students then arranged, conducted and edited the interviews.

Clairton CASTLE: Alien Stories

Radio clubbers at Clairton’s CASTLE program wrote and recorded stories about making first contact with an alien species. Unfortunately, most of the aliens turned out to be more like the titular alien in “Alien” rather than like an E.T. or a Mork or a Chewbacca.