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The Production Team

Marianne McCune is the host and senior producer of "Growing Up, Getting By." Marianne was a documentary and educational filmmaker before sliding over into the world of public radio. She worked in Gambia, Estonia, Croatia, London, San Francisco, and New York, focusing as often as possible on programs for and about young people. Her documentary "Memories Do Not Burn," about a summer camp for refugee children from Bosnia and Croatia, won numerous awards. In 1998, she began freelancing in public radio and discovered how well sounds and words alone can paint pictures and tell intimate stories. Marianne is the founder of Radio Rookies. She's a full-time reporter now, but as editor of Radio Rookies she remains an important part of the Radio Rookies program.

Melissa (Robbins) Allison was a producer on "Growing Up. Getting By." Before joining Radio Rookies, she worked as an independent radio producer and as an associate producer with The Kitchen Sisters and Homelands Productions. She has reported and produced pieces for NPR, BBC World Service, Third Coast Festival and the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Prior to radio, she worked as a newspaper reporter in London and New York City. In 2007, Melissa left Radio Rookies (in body, but never in spirit) to return to Woods Hole, MA, where she spends a lot of time recording her infant son.

Karen Michel, former Radio Rookies Editor, is an upstate New York- based independent radio producer who got her start in media as a guest on Art Linkletter's "Kids Say the Darndest Things." She's lived and worked in Alaska, Mexico, Japan, Greenland, India, Canada, Kenya, Nepal, Madagascar and other geographies real and imagined. Her academic training is in visual arts and cross-cultural education; she's been an exhibiting artist (jewelry, photography, drawing, and holography), and a teacher. Since falling into a job in public radio, in Fairbanks, Alaska long ago, she's been committed to sound, as an audio artist and as a journalist. There've been many awards and fellowships : Peabody, Robert Wood Johnson, NEA, CPB, NFCB, the Japan Foundation and the Fulbright/Indo-U.S. Subcommission among them. Recently, Michel was the Lehman-Brady Professor of Documentary and American Studies at Duke University's Center for Documentary Studies. She is currently on the Media Arts faculty at Marist College, where she also advises the student-run radio station. Perhaps radio is a calling, maybe it's craziness or compulsion; maybe there's no difference.

Miguel Macias, former Radio Rookies associate producer, is a radio producer, sound designer, musician and video producer. In September of 2009 Miguel will join the faculty of the Television and Radio department at Brooklyn College as an Assistant Professor in Radio. Up until recently Miguel worked as the Los Angeles Bureau Chief for the youth media organization Youth Radio. Prior to that Miguel worked as the overnight associate producer for the Marketplace Morning Report, and as an associate producer for WNYC's Radio Rookies. Miguel is also proud to be a volunteer for the NGO Madre.

Amy O'Leary worked as an associate producer on "Growing Up, Getting By." She is now a senior multimedia producer for the New York Times. Prior to that, she worked as a producer for public radio's This American Life. As a freelance producer, she's recorded audio from on top a glacier in the Himalayas, by trespassing in a subway tunnel at night, and in her third grade classroom, working for a number of radio programs such as Radio Lab, On The Media, Weekend America, and Studio 360.

Former Radio Rookies senior producer Czerina Patel was involved with the Rookies program since its inception. She helped build and guide the program through its first six years. She taught many of the workshops, produced and edited dozens of Rookies' stories (including "Heroin," "Obsession," "Suicide," and "Growing Up Alone," all in the Rookies Special) and developed strong relationships with the Rookies, relationships which are still very strong and special. While at WNYC, Czerina built the Radio Rookies program into one of the most well known youth media programs in the country, with regular broadcasts on NPR and receiving numerous prestigious radio awards including the George Foster Peabody Award. In 2006, with some gray hair - a gift from her dear Rookies, Czerina left her beloved NYC radio teen-stars, to work with the dynamic people of Africa. She founded a non-profit organization (www.yenza.org) to create meaningful opportunities, dialogue and exchange between the people of Africa and the rest of the world. Czerina currently works between New York, her native South Africa and other great places, but her love for the program and the Rookies remains.

Radio Rookies senior producer Kaari Pitkin started at WNYC in 1997 as an intern and went on from there to become the newsroom's senior producer. During her tenure in the newsroom, Kaari produced and edited everything from major breaking news events to coverage of the most quotidian aspects of life in New York. She was involved in Radio Rookies both as a mentor and a producer since 2000, but she decided to make the full-time leap to Radio Rookies in 2005. Since then, Kaari has enjoyed working closely with teenagers and helping the program grow in new directions, including the development of lesson plans for teachers to use Rookies stories in the classroom, and the creation of the Short Wave workshop.

Rookies Bios

Janesse Nieves is 24-years-old and lives in Shreveport, Louisiana with her brother, nephew, and niece. She works as a customer representative at a mobile phone call center. Janesse is gradually working towards an undergraduate degree. She's also doing a lot of other stuff: she's traveled to New Orleans, Chicago and parts of Texas. She's learned to drive (a big step for many New Yorkers) and she's into photography. The other morning she took a photo of a tree that looked like it was lighting up from the inside. Just that one tree in the morning sunlight. Janesse is thinking about turning her closet into a darkroom.

Listen to Janesse's original Rookies story here

Jesus Gonzalez was born and raised in Bushwick, Brooklyn where he continues to reside. He was a participant in the Radio Rookies workshop at the age of 15. Since then, he has continued his commitment to creating positive changes in his community through his involvement with his organization, Make the Road New York. Jesus, now 24-years-old, is the co-coordinator of the Youth Power Project at Make the Road New York. Because of his engagement with WNYC, he was inspired to create "In the Studio" at Make the Road New York. "In the Studio" provides similar training on how to create radio stories. The hands-on training that Jesus received with Radio Rookies provided the foundation for him to be able to pass similar skills down to youth and young adults for them to create their own radio stories. You can find out more of what Jesus is up to on his website www.jesusg.com.

Listen to Jesus' original Rookies story here
As a graduate Rookie, Jesus also produced a story called "Advice To The Mayor."

Samr "Rocky" Tayeh was first introduced to journalism at 15, when he produced "My Struggle with Obesity," a radio story which focused on Rocky's battle with himself, his weight, his family and society. His radio work has won numerous awards and aired nationally (NPR) and internationally (BBC). Rocky was also the subject of several television documentaries on MTV, PBS, and The Food Network. He is 21-years-old and in college (studying English, Journalism and Acting.) He plans to write a book about the difficulties of growing up fat in New York City and host his own show.

As a graduate Rookie, Rocky produced several other stories. Listen here:
"Saying Goodbye to Food"
"Students Speak Out"
"Subways"
"Midwood Commentaries"

Linda Cuevas is working as a Medical Assistant at an OB/GYN clinic. She has her own family now, is married and has three daughters.

Listen to Linda's original Rookies story here

Catalina Puente will attend Bramson Orts College in the fall of 2009. She's acted in several plays including "Uncensored" and "Keen Teens" and has a part in a film called "Holocaust Holocaust." She's also been performing her poetry all around New York. She's just happy--breathing, relaxing and enjoying life with those she loves most. She not obsessed anymore and says she's not into the whole dating scene yet. She's focusing on what she has to do instead. She hopes to become a full time actress in the future.

Listen to Catalina's original Rookies story here

Sunnie Hwang graduated from Queensborough College, majoring in Liberal Arts and Science. She opened a wig store last year called "The Wig Store," but had to close this year with the economy so bad. Sunnie is still living with her brother and still visits her parent's friends in Maryland every year.

Listen to Sunnie's original Rookies story here

Edward Llanos now has a beautiful wife and son. He is going to college, majoring in business and working with his father's maintenance company. He plans to continue school so that one day he can take over the family business. He is thankful that he was able to be involved with Radio Rookies because it not only helped him tell his story but also gave much needed direction to a misguided teen.

Listen to Edward's original Rookies story here