KUNR Youth Media

Meet Our KUNR Youth Media Students For Spring 2021

KUNR Public Radio | By KUNR Staff

Published April 24, 2021 at 7:34 AM PDT

The four faces of each KUNR Youth Media member. — KUNR's spring 2021 Youth Media internship program includes (from top left to bottom right) May Wells, Wesley Kaopio, Jonathan Grube and Nick Stewart.

KUNR’s Youth Media program is training the next generation of journalists and elevating the voices and perspectives of high school students in our region. Student reporters produce interviews, audio diaries, commentaries, and news stories that air and publish on KUNR. Check out all of their work here, and get to know this semester’s student reporters below.

Name: Jonathan Grube
Grade level: 12th grade
High school: Spanish Springs High School
Topics he enjoys: music, speaking

Name: May Wells
Grade level: 11th grade
High school: Spanish Springs High School
Topics she enjoys: music, photography, video editing, gardening, bullet journaling, cooking and baking

Name: Nick Stewart
Grade level: 11th Grade
High school: Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology
Topic he enjoys: photography

Name: Wesley Kaopio
Grade level: 11th grade
High school: Earl Wooster High School
Topic he enjoys: English

KUNR’s Youth Media program is run by staff from KUNR, Report for America and the Washoe County School District. Bob Zorn is the instructor, Lucia Starbuck is editor and coordinator, Crystal Willis is digital editor, and Michelle Billman is program manager. Our digital team for this project includes David Isaacson and Jayden Perez.

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.