From 01/27/2024: Morgantown-based fiddler, guitarist and singer/songwriter Gray Buchanan previewing her SongSpace show at First Unitarian with Bertha and the Belles, 1/27 (7:30 pm), Shadyside.
Read the full story »From 8/3/13: Margy Whitmer of The Fred Rogers Company discussing WORD PLAY!, a new interactive family word game now in place at bus shelters throughout the city.
On our 24th day, campers recorded the narration for their final radio pieces. Now, with scripts written and revised, and both interviews and said narration collected (a monstrous amount of hard work forged by the unparalleled dedication of our young broadcasters) the Frankenstein-like process of assemblage can begin with Mr. Andy and Mr. Ben back at the Saturday Light Brigade offices, banging away at their laptops, editing audio like Edward Scissorhands… if Edward Scissorhands ever decided to become an audio engineer… and if he exclusively used magnetic tape in his recordings.
Our 23rd day of camp brought with it even more typing and finalizing of our interview scripts. Each group sat down with either Mr. Andy or Mr. Ben and went over grammar, syntax, and spelling. We fine-tooth-combed those things until even E. B. White couldn’t find something wrong with them. After polishing almost all of the scripts, we headed outside and played some Four Square–Roberta made it rain with her spikes!
On our 22nd day, campers in our first class were asked the old classic: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” They’re an ambitious bunch: Taijaun is going to lead the technological charge in nano-robot development, Anthony is going to be an actor and Sean is going to sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The second class was given netbooks to type up their finished interview scripts.
On our 21st day, campers were given netbooks to type up the final versions of their scripts. They then continued with their inter-camp interviews. Truly, the investigative prowess of team Mahin, Demetrius and Sean rivals that of Woodward and Bernstein. We were even able to squeeze in some four square at the end.
Today was a hectic day here at Radio Camp! All of our preparation and writing and rewriting has led us to this moment: our Radio Campers conducting their very own interviews!
On our 19th meeting, campers reviewed each other’s interview scripts. Grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, syntax, all were examined with intense scrutiny. Ashante was particularly ruthless–like the guy who replaces Robin Williams in “Dead Poets Society” levels of ruthlessness. Then, with our perfected scripts, we went outside and play some Four Square.
On our eighteenth day, campers worked some more on their interview scripts and got a refresher on what an open ended question is. They also found out which Summer Dreamers activity their interview subjects would be from. We then headed outside to Mr. Andy’s “Thunderdome” of Four Square to end the day. He’s like Tina Turner and Master Blaster combined in that pseudo-athletic arena!
On our 17th day of Radio Camp, campers formed into groups and began composing scripts for their final, culminating project–a radio feature about the Summer Dreamers Academy! We then headed outside and played some intense four square.
On our 16th day of camp, we discussed the coming school year and all of the possibilities it brings with it. All of our campers are rising sixth graders, and the move into middle school can be a tough one, but each child expressed an awesome hopefulness akin to maybe Gandhi or the Rebel Fleet.