Listen: As is summer, our 2010 Safe Streets, Healthy Kids project is winding down — through Monday, September 6th, we’ll be playing a mixture of highlights from the campaign, revisiting some of the wonderful characters and stories we’ve visited over the past few months. Everybody has their favorites, a piece here or there that reverberates and lingers in your memory. So if you have a particular piece you’d like get back on the air, I’d love to hear in the comment section below.
For me, summer has been hundreds of miles biked, dozens and dozens of recorded conversations, a metric ton of fun, and 60-some audio pieces. Some were dramatic, others were light-hearted and then there were all those moments ranging from adorable to thought-provoking to hopeful. At its best, a piece caught the voice of a youth, honest and sincere — the microphone not creating a situation, but rather capturing one.
If you’ve followed the evolution of how we do story-telling at RadioMilwaukee, you may have noticed a subtle difference in the trajectory of this campaign — many pieces had a simple focus on fun. If our efforts lie only in stories of one-in-a-million overcoming, while the narratives may be compelling, those voices can make reasons for hope feel too few and far between. And as we’ve heard, reason for optimism is not remote.
So, in truthfully presenting the voices of youth, why not let their wonder and exuberance and humor show? I did my best and I have to say — the kids shined. Looking back at the trail of bright faces and laughter, I’m happy to move forward into our Make A Difference campaign this fall, but I already can’t wait for next summer. Thank you for listening, and I hope you met a few kids this summer that put a smile on your face.