Calvin Coolidge Senior High School
Written by Administrator Wednesday, 25 February 2009 12:24
Head
to the border of Takoma Park, Maryland and Washington, D.C., and you
may find yourself staring at a piece of educational history
Calvin Coolidge Senior High School. Coolidge, like many schools, was a battleground during the fight
for
integration. At one point white students, the primary demographic at
the school in the beginning, organized rallies to stop black students
from going to the school.
The 60 plus year-old red brick building is also the site of Rootz's first year collaboration with English teacher Loretta Kelly's 2nd period creative writing class. Twice a week, we meet with a mix of juniors and seniors to talk about what the media is, how media works, and in what ways does the media impact their lives. In addition, students are learning the basics of interviewing and recording. Soon they'll grace radio listeners with their dream pieces about roving the hallways instead of going to class, the school's new health center, and why the school's computers never seem to work when you want them to.
Some of our students made radio features that spoke to issues they were interested in. Take a listen!
Across the country, critics of violent music lyrics continue to link those lyrics with violence in the streets. And D.C. is no different. Except for the past 30 years instead of Hip-Hop or Hard Rock taking the heat, in D.C., it’s go-go. Radio Rootz Reporter, Terrell Carr gives us a look behind the D.C. music scene of Go-Go.
Every year we’re bombarded by statistics that we hear in the news. Radio Rootz correspondent Makeda Sheffield set out to investigate one set of stats: the hidden truth behind gun violence statistics in the district.
Youth advocates often say that teens need activities outside of school to keep them out of trouble and not bored. That’s why many teens are encouraged to get a job during the summer. Yet getting a job as a teenager is not only hard, it is also very stressful, especially when jobs that provide skills are hard to get and they usually only pay the national minimum wage of $5.15. Also, teenagers sometimes feel they're treated unfairly in the workplace. Monica Jones of Radio Rootz interviewed teens and adults to find out what it means to be an out of work and working teenager in D.C.
- Artist: Calvin Coolidge High School
- Title: Calvin Coolidge High '07 - '08 Resolutions
- Length: 2:58
- Format: Stereo 44kHz
On Dec 19, Radio Rootz partnered with the Oral History Project in a community building event that featured 40 years of stories from Coolidge alumni.
Alumni included: DC Deputy Fire Chief, a jazz musician whose work included the Cosby Show's theme song, former Black Panther and accomplished anthropologist, and Coolidge's current principal.
In December 2007, Selina Musuta of Radio Rootz DC and Ingrid Drake
of The Oral History Project hosted the Sounds of Coolidge: Past,
Present, and Future, a public showcase of the radio work produced by
Calvin Coolidge Senior High School students.
Selina and Ingrid have been working with Coolidge students over the year teaching the how tos of researching, interviewing, recording, and editing
The audio celebration garnered the attention of 40 alumni, administrators, teachers, students, and community members. Event
participants were able to hear from The Oral History Project archives,
40 years of stories from Coolidge alumni - including student activism,
fashion, and music as well as youth produced radio pieces from Radio
Rootz’s 2007 Youth Media Project. Not only was it a night to share
audio. It was also a night for alumni that attended to share stories
about the trouble they caused, laugh at the clothes they wore, and
express their Coolidge pride. The event also inspired a
cross-generational dialogue about the level of political consciousness
amongst today’s youth.
