Welcome KUOW's 2020 RadioActive advanced youth producers

KUOW's RadioActive Youth Media is proud to offer our advanced journalism workshop. Twelve graduates of our introduction to journalism workshop will spend the spring at KUOW.

During that time, they will gain advanced audio production and journalism skills as well as experience in community engagement. Our news team will produce spot stories and feature radio stories. Our podcasting team will produce creative audio stories and podcasts. Subscribe to the RadioActive podcast to hear what they create.

Applications are open for RadioActive’s summer 2020 Intro to Journalism workshop.

Celia Fragale, Senior, Franklin High School

Everyone tells me I stress out too much, and that's probably true. My mom tells me it's just the way I'm wired, but I like to think that I just care too much. When I'm not stressing out, I love rewatching TV shows, finding new music, eating tacos, running at track practice, having mini existential crises, complaining to my friends about homework and updating my school's reader board. So far, RadioActive has been a little stressful but much more fun.

Charlotte Engrav, Sophomore, Eastside Preparatory School

I've always loved art, and that love has manifested itself through many different mediums in my life. I've tried theater, visual arts, creative writing and poetry. I've also always loved listening. From podcasts to audiobooks, there's always some form of audio playing in my house. These two passions morphed together this past summer during the 2019 Intro to Journalism workshop where I produced a story about my family, my heritage and the food we eat. I'm really excited to see what more I can create!

Essey Paulos, Junior, Kentridge High School and Running Start Student at Bellevue College

I love keeping my mind engaged through diverse activities such as the Eritrean Youth Dance Group I have been a part of for over eight years, as well as the Young Executives of Color Program at the University of Washington, which is a business program for high school students. I also worked with non-profit organizations as an intern for Teens in Service, which helped grow my interest in giving back to the community. That's where I learned about RadioActive's Intro to Journalism workshop in 2019. Ever since, my passion for media and journalism has grown, and I am excited to share my work with the world.

Hong Ta, Freshman, University of Puget Sound

I am a first year student at University of Puget Sound, soon to be majoring in Politics and Government. I am passionate about social justice and activism. I've worked for law firms and political campaigns, and I have been a part of RadioActive since the summer of 2019. I fell in love with journalism and have produced stories on police brutality, climate change, my grandparents' immigration and cultural appropriation. On campus, I'm involved in the Asian Pacific Islander Collective and Sunrise Tacoma, and I'm working for the Office of Admissions.

Jadenne Radoc Cabahug, Senior, Kentridge High School and Running Start Student at Green River College

I’m a RadioActive youth journalist who covers topics ranging from youth activism to cultural identity in second generation teens. I’ve lived in places like San Diego, California, Tokyo and Seattle, and that’s made me look at the world with a wide lens. I will graduate from both Kentridge High School and Green River College as a Running Start student this summer! Working with local news organizations like KUOW and the Seattle Globalist, I will advance my career as an international affairs journalist, travel the world and change it one story at a time.

Joshua Fernandes, Senior, Ballard High School

I attend Ballard High School, where I play the stand up bass in my school’s orchestra and fiddle program and make movies in my school’s film program. However, one fateful day I got bitten by a bug that changed my life. The journalism bug. I participated in KUOW’s RadioActive intro program, where I culminated a love of the auditory arts by making podcasts. I’m committed to standing for truth and justice by amplifying the voices of artists of color through the visual, written and auditory medium.

Lila Shroff, Senior, Mercer Island High School

The only thing I enjoy more than listening to a great story is telling one. In my eighteen years, I’ve experimented with theater, poetry, filmmaking, screenwriting, improv, photography, and, of course, radio. Apart from RadioActive, my involvement in the radio/podcast world includes serving as the Student General Manager at KMIH 88.9 The Bridge, a summer spent at podcast monetization startup Glow.fm, time working on the Northwest News Network Booked & Buried project, and endless hours spent listening to many, many podcasts. When I’m not behind the microphone, you can find me listening to Billy Joel’s “Vienna” on infinite repeat, drinking too many London Fog lattes, and contemplating the current state of our media ecosystem.

Lucas Galarneau, Sophomore, Nova High School

I was born in Sacramento, California but traveled a lot when I was young. I lived in New Zealand until I was three years old before eventually moving to Seattle where I have lived for the past thirteen years. I started working with RadioActive in 2019 as a way to spread the stories of people who aren't being heard from enough. Now as an advanced producer, I want to create more interesting audio pieces.

Meghana Kakubal, Senior, Mercer Island High School

Senior year has brought excitement, an immense workload and new opportunities but most important of all, it's brought me the realization about how much I care for the people around me. Whether it's trying to create a stronger community as drum major for the MIHS Band or capturing someone's personality through portrait photography, I've found myself gravitating towards making meaningful connections. As Program Director of my high school's radio station, KMIH 88.9 The Bridge, I've understood the power of conversation and storytelling to create relationships. I'm excited to be a part of RadioActive this year and dive deep into the world of radio journalism!

Mimi Zekaryas, Senior, University Prep

I became interested in podcasting and radio after I participated in RadioActive the summer before my junior year. Since then, I have become a frequent podcast listener and make my own as well. The most recent podcast I produced was for a school project about the Duwamish Tribe’s fight for federal recognition. In the future, I hope to create podcasts similar to that one about social issues to help spark conversations around them.

Ritika Managuli, Junior, International Community School

I’m a person who loves to talk. I talk at meetings, give inspirational speeches to teenagers in my community and engage in verbal disagreements. As a junkie for fictional novels, the ability to tell stories comes easily to me, and recently on social media I’ve been noticing many teenagers advocating for many societal and political issues. However, I never see anything about actions we can take to help. As a seventeen-year-old who will soon be given the right to vote, I still have a lot to understand. That’s why I hope to learn more about local and national issues that some people ignore and become a voice that helps people understand what’s happening around them and take action.

Zuheera Ali, Sophomore, Seattle Pacific University

In first grade, my school counselor gave me a children’s collection of Langston Hughes poems. The book, tattered and filled with my seven-year-old misspellings, sits in my room today, and every now and then, it reminds me that dreams aren’t foolish or meaningless. They shouldn’t be swept aside but cherished. When I did RadioActive's Intro to Journalism workshop in Spring 2017, I was so confused and disoriented by all the choices I was allowed to make. I was so used to others pushing and pulling me into whatever they thought was best that I felt scared and unprepared when asked what I wanted to do. Before RadioActive, I had never been asked what I wanted to do without being told what the right answer was. It’s hard for me to think of doing and being outside of what’s already been done, but when I look at that book and think about all of the dreams I’ve had, I imagine myself completely free and think of all the possibilities that come with that.