KUNR Youth Media

An illustration of an ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses.

Local High School Student Audio Diary: ‘I Want Things To Be Boring’

KUNR Public Radio | By Avery Thunder

Published October 10, 2020 at 8:00 AM PDT

A young woman with purple and pink curled hair sitting down outside and looking off screen. There are green leaves and grass behind her. — Local high school student Avery Thunder with KUNR’s Youth Media Program.";

Washoe County Schools have had to switch to remote learning for all students for more than 10 days this semester due to poor air quality from fires in California. For many local high school students, including Avery Thunder, it's led to a sense of uncertainty. She shares her feelings in an audio diary for KUNR's Youth Media program.

It's just so annoying having these back and forwards all the time, where you're just not really sure if you're going to go to school that day. Everything is just so unexpected, and right now there's like no constants in life at all. I feel like everything's just constantly changing.

Back when we weren't going to school at all, it was at least like this feeling of, “Yeah, I know I'm not going to school, and like, that's weird, but at least I know that I'm not doing it,” but now it's like, some days I go, some days I don't, some nights I think I'm going to school tomorrow, and then I wake up the next morning and I'm not.

It's just so complicated because it feels like every single day something new and unexpected happens. I want things to be boring almost for a little bit. I just want things to calm down and stop feeling like I constantly have to be on alert, and have to be flexible, and ready for all these different changes all the time.

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

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.