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Queens Rookies Alexis Gordon and Jessica Cernadas ran the Rookies table at the NYC Young Artists & Leaders Festival on Saturday, June 5th. Downtown Art organized the festival as an opportunity for young artists to show their work and see the creative work being done by others their age.

When Hawa told her mom she’d be doing a story about vampires for Radio Rookies, her mom just laughed, “You could say you’re a vampire because you’re so active at night.” Hawa's actually thought about that before.  She's 'half dead' during breakfast, and usually can't tune into classes until after lunch.  Around 6pm she's ready to start her day, and if her mom let her, Hawa would be up until 1am every night.  The whole immortality thing is pretty cool too.

This fall, we began a new broadcast workshop in Flushing, Queens in partnership with the Flushing YMCA. During the past month, the Rookies have started to roll through their lessons, putting their new skills to practice. They are well on their way to making their radio documentaries.

Radio Rookies works with teenagers to create documentary stories about the things that matter most to them. We hold 6-month long workshops around New York City's five boroughs, teaching young people how to do interviews, record sounds, and structure a story that, ultimately, will air onWNYC . The Radio Rookies Blog is a place for program staff and participants to take you behind the scenes, to give you a chance to get to know us better, and to hear what's on the Rookies' minds.