KUNR Youth Media

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Audio Diary: Missing Out On Senior Year Traditions Because Of COVID-19

KUNR Public Radio | By Maya Dampier

Published June 3, 2020 at 6:39 PM PDT

Maya is a female teenager and is sitting in a grassy field. She's wearing her high school's graduation cap and gown and is holding her lacrosse stick close to her. — KUNR Youth Media Reporter Maya Dampier is a graduating senior from Reno High School and dons her graduation regalia while holding her lacrosse stick.

The local high school students in KUNR's Youth Media program are wrapping up the school year from home with classes ending this week. One of those students, Maya Dampier, recorded an audio diary to share her experience as a senior graduating from Reno High School.

Editor's note: this story includes language that some readers may find offensive.

I never thought that I would have wanted to be at school. But, I guess it makes sense. It’s my senior year, and I’m missing out on just so much. Like, the last day of my senior year of high school was on Friday the 13th, and that’s kind of weird. The end of my high school career ended on some random Friday before spring break.

I just wish I would’ve known that it was the last day. I was redoing a lab at lunch that day, and I only got to be with my friends for 10 minutes. If I knew that it would’ve been the last day, I would’ve appreciated everything more, like my teachers, the yellow tiled halls, the gym, my friends, the library. It’s just so weird knowing that I’m never going to take a class at Reno High again. I’m never going to have my senior prom, or get a senior assembly, or go to senior sunset, or have a senior night for lacrosse.

With lacrosse, we had gotten new uniforms this year, and they were really nice. But we had only gotten to play three games in them. And I know that everything I’m complaining about is minor in comparison to what’s happening in the world right now, like the other day, it was announced that murder hornets are in North America now. It's just, for lack of a better word, everything just sucks right now.

KUNR's Youth Media program is a special partnership with the Washoe County School District to train the next generation of journalists.

KOLO-TV will be broadcasting Class of 2020 recognition shows with student slideshows and pre-taped remarks for each high school, starting Wednesday, June 3, on both channel 8 and kolotv.com.

Learn more about the KUNR Youth Media program

Each fall and spring semester, our dedicated program coordinator partners with the WCSD educator to mentor a select group of high school interns. The internship classes are typically from 2:15 to 4:15 p.m. at the high school, providing a structured environment where students receive comprehensive instruction.

The students are taught radio journalism, broadcast journalism, and media production, gaining real-world professional experience that helps them develop career skills. Students work with media professionals to produce creative audio stories and elevate voices from our region.

As part of the program, students are offered the opportunity to tour KUNR’s facilities and the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, where they will have the chance to record their broadcasts under the guidance of the WCSD educator and the program coordinator.

This semester-long project is designed to facilitate the airing of the students' stories on KUNR and the publication of their work on KUNR.org. Through this experiential learning approach, students gain valuable insights into public media and develop practical skills using industry-standard equipment.

The KUNR Youth Media Coordinator plays a crucial role in ensuring that students receive scholarly guidance on the standards and practices associated with audio journalism production.

Our program is committed to fostering a safe and constructive learning environment for all participants. KUNR is dedicated to nurturing the creative ideas of students in the program and, prior to publication, KUNR’s Managing Editor reviews all submitted work to ensure that it aligns with KUNR’s established media standards and expectations.

This program was formerly known as Reno Youth Radio.