ANNOUNCING. . .
WKCD's 2012 Graduation Speech Contest: "What Makes a Nation Strong?—open to youth ages 12-19 (you don't have to be an actual graduation speaker to enter the contest!)
"Teachers at Work: Six Exemplars of Daily Practice" by Barbara Cervone and Kathleen Cushman—part of a series of papers on student-centered learning from Jobs for the Future and Nellie Mae Foundation
TOP—AND OTHER NEW—STORIES. . . SIGN UP FOR OUR MAILING LIST!
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JustListen: Students Talk About Anytime, Anywhere Learning |
| In this fifith installment of our “Just Listen” series of one-minute video clips, students talk about "anytime, anywhere learning." They applaud the wonders of Google where they can learn "more and more" deep into the night; they marvel at how they learned to play the guitar through online instruction. They also point to after school programs that help them catch up academically, music lessons in the community, a summer job with an adult who takes a special interest in them. | |
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College Struggles: You're On Your Own, Kid |
| Otis Hampton was accepted at all six colleges he applied to in NYC. He chose Medgar Evers, gathered the financial aid he needed, began with high hopes....and failed. Refusing to let his dream of becoming a professional writer die, he started again at another NYC community college which gave students like Otis the chance to start fresh. In this first-person account, Otis tells his story about learning the hard way how to make a success of yourself in college. In a humorous video, he also offers tips for other struggling students. | |
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Not-Your-Typical Summer Reading List (for Teens) |
| Here's a summer reading list for teens with a compelling angle: 15 immigration stories of hardship and hope, identity and transformation. At a time when legal immigration to the U.S. is the highest ever (one million immigrants a year) and immigrants or the children of immigrants make up a quarter of the under-18 population, a summer reading list filled with the voices and stories of young newcomers seems just right. Every high school student, we wager, will find meaning in these titles. | |
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Great Films that Will Sweep Teens Away |
| Ah yes, summer flicks. Blockbusters, escape movies, mainstream fare . . . not the time for tense drama. But wait. Who said that summer movie watching must be laid back? In a break with tradition, WKCD has put together a list of 17 films—especially for youth 13 or 14 and up—that you won't find at your local theater, but that will have you leaning forward, maybe swallowing hard. While many of these films didn't make it big in Hollywood, we are confident they will sweep teens—really, everyone—off their feet. | |
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Summer Academics and Enrichment: A Taste of College |
| For years, colleges and universities nationwide have offered a large selection of summer courses for academically ambitious high school students, sometimes for college credit. It's a chance for high school students to take courses they'd never find in their high schools, study with college professors, and to taste college life and its academic demands. Learn what's "out there"--and follow our search tips for finding summer learning opportunities on college campuses near you. | |
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Summer Journeys: WKCD Annual Summer Abroad Directory ('12) |
| In Innocents Abroad, American author and humorist Mark Twain wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." How true! For teenagers who have stayed close to home, summer study and wok in foreign countries is always eye opening and often life-changing. Most require students to pay both tuition and airfares, but scholarships are sometimes available. Two programs target low-income students. See our annual directory. | |
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College Matters: Supporting Low-Income and First-Generation Students |
| For nine years, WKCD has listened and talked with students nationwide about college. From this work, we have produced a rich set of resources for first-generation and low-income students on how to make it to college and succeed once there. All of these resources are student-to-student: "near peers" advising those following in their footsteps. They are aimed at the adults who support students on the path to college as much as the students themselves. Here we collect in one place all of our “college matters” materials: books, videos and other media, websites, free downloads. | |
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Queer Youth Advice for Educators |
| What adult behaviors help LGBT youth maintain their safety and self esteem? How do teachers help them to grow? How can educators learn from the bullying experiences they have endured? Calling on the compelling voices of students themselves, Queer Youth Advice for Educators, by WKCD writer Abe Louise Young, offers concrete and possibly life-saving tips for all adults who are ready to provide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth with a supportive and equitable learning environment. |
