Brooklyn Theatre Arts High School (BTAHS) is a new high school in Canarsie, Brooklyn.
Radio Rootz is excited to be a part of BTAHS from its beginning. BTAHS is in its first year and has only
9th grade students, with plans to add on a grade each year through 12th
grade. Our Rootz class has 27 students; our largest class ever.
We’re teaching a combination of media literacy and radio production as
we always do, but we’ve added a special emphasis on theater. We’re
planning a radio drama and have been experimenting with classroom
acting exercises to illustrate the roles of editors and media
decision-makers.
The school is housed at South Shore High School, one of the largest
schools in New York City. South Shore has historically faced serious
disciplinary and academic challenges and is slated to close in 2010, to
be replaced by small schools like BTAHS. The school atmosphere is sometimes difficult for our students and Rootz teachers alike, but we and our colleagues at BTAHS
work hard to keep our students engaged and on track. Students created
stories on issues that are important to the school such as security and
metal detectors, as well as stories about why students can’t bring cell
phones to school, why kids tell lies, and much more. We also looked at
the 2008 elections and their relevance (or lack thereof) to youth.
- Produced By: Jemima Williams
- Title: You’re a Fencer?
- Year: 2008
- Length: 7.53 MB
- Format: Stereo 44kHz
{mp3}radiorootz/BTAHS Youre a Fencer{/mp3}DOWNLOAD “You’re a Fencer?”When most people think of fencing, they think of people in white
suits hitting each other with sticks, as Jemima Williams explains in
this story. And specifically, they think of white people in white suits
hitting each other with sticks. But as Jemima finds out, she’s not the
only young African-American fencer out there. In fact, she gets the
real deal from two African-American Olympic fencers, Keeth and Erin
Smart.
- Produced by: Kemia Ford
- Title: Why the Lies?
- Year: 2008
- Length: 8.78 MB
- Format: Stereo 44kHz
{mp3}radiorootz/BTAHS Why the Lies{/mp3}DOWNLOAD “Why the Lies?”Kids lie a lot, as Kemia Ford points out in this piece. Sometimes
the lies are just funny little white lies, but sometimes they have
serious consequences – including major guilt.
- Produced by: Meaghan Pamphile
- Title: Teenagers Have It Rough – Really!
- Year: 2008
- Length: 5.29 MB
- Format: Stereo 44kHz
{mp3}radiorootz/BTAHS Teenagers Have it Rough – Really{/mp3}DOWNLOAD “Teenagers Have it Rough – Really!”Everyone says your teenage years are supposed to be the best years
of your life. But as Meaghan Pamphile explains, teenagers suffer
embarrassment and worse, just like everyone else. She gets some of her
friends’ most embarrassing moments, and learns some family stories she
may not want to know.
- Produced by: Angela Heller
- Title: Nothing Holding Me Back
- Year: 2008
- Length: 2.05 MB
- Format: Stereo 44kHz
{mp3}radiorootz/BTAHS Nothing Holding Me Back{/mp3}DOWNLOAD “Nothing Holding Me Back”Angela Heller is not going to let anything stop her from achieving
her goals. Not bullying, and not her hearing impediment. In this piece,
she explains why she talks “funny”, and points out that she’s not the
only person with challenges and dreams.
- Produced by: Avianna Newton & Jelani Knight
- Title: Navigating 9th Grade: A Year in the Life of a New Small School
- Year: 2008
- Length: 10.98 MB
- Format: Stereo 44kHz
{mp3}radiorootz/BTAHS Navigating 9th Grade_ A Year in the Life of a New Small School{/mp3}DOWNLOAD “Navigating 9th Grade: A Year in the Life of a New Small School”Ninth grade is a time when you’re new to high school, and learning a
lot of new things. But what happens when your high school itself is
new? In this story, Avianna Newton and Jelani Knight look at the pros
and cons of being in a new small school.
- Produced by: BTAHS Rootz Students
- Title: Sounds of BTAHS
- Year: 2008
- Length: 2.16 MB
- Format: Stereo 44kHz
{mp3}radiorootz/BTAHS_canarsie_school_sounds{/mp3}DOWNLOAD “Sounds of BTAHS”Listen to Sounds of BTAHS, a sound collage of Brooklyn Theatre Art’s Hallways, Classrooms, Students, & Teachers.
- Produced by: BTAHS Rootz Students
- Title: BTAHS’ If I Ruled the World
- Year: 2008
- Length: 1.84 MB
- Format: Stereo 44kHz
{mp3}radiorootz/BTAHS_If_I_Ruled_the_World{/mp3}DOWNLOAD “BTAHS’ If I Ruled the World”BTAHS’ If I Ruled the World
- Produced by: BTAHS
- Title: Freedom vs. Safety (School Security)
- Year: 2008
- Length: 5.17 MB
- Format: Stereo 44kHz
{mp3}radiorootz/BTAHS Freedom V Safety{/mp3}DOWNLOAD “Freedom Vs. Safety (School Security)”Brooklyn Theatre Arts High School takes up a whole city block in
Canarsie, Brooklyn. Every single one of the over 2000 students have to
pass through metal detectors each morning. A lot of students feel
upset about the security system, and how we get treated by the security
guards. The Rootz Crew at BTAHS decided to explore this issue of
scanning and police in school. We spent several months working on this
piece, starting with reading news articles about school violence and
policing, then interviewing, listening to our tapes, and deciding on
our audience and goal of the story. We hope you like it – check it out!
