Most teens want their voices heard, but very few actually get a chance to have their voices heard on the radio every week. Seniors Elizabeth Lopez and Andrea Serrano both got a chance to work at a radio station downtown by the Maya Cinema, on a show which airs on Mondays from 4-6pm on 90.9 FM. They got together on Wednesdays to plan the show for the following Monday and talked about who will be the following week’s guest. The guests come from organizations from the community or organizations that are useful for youth such as after school programs, weekend activities, or workshops where students get help to prepare for college. The radio station, “La Cultura Cura Radio Bilingue “Alza Tu Voz/Speak Out,” lets teens speak up and let their voice be heard.

Jesus Ramirez, aka “Chuy”, is in charge of what goes on air and manages who they interview. “I am the coordinator and my  job is to promote the station to the community by presenting at schools and libraries.” The station’s purpose is to help let teens know about what can help them in college, as told by teens. He also promotes the program by going to community events, like Ciclovia and the Health Fairs at school. Serrano found out about it when she was volunteering for the Ciclovia Organization. “I had to go talk about the Ciclovia event in the radio station and I thought it was cool.” So she asked Ramirez if she could work there or how they choose people. Ramirez said that she could actually work there and so he sent her the application via email and she filled it out. Then she got a call that told her that she had been accepted to the program. She then told Lopez and Lopez filled out the application and she was accepted as well. Lopez said, “I was really happy I was one of the few who got into this really good program because I knew I would learn a lot from it.”

Although Ramirez  does not get to decide who gets accepted in the program, he’s glad it was these two easy to work with, very enthusiastic girls. “They are both always energetic, they always get here on time, and you can tell they’re very eager to learn by the way they always ask questions.” Lopez’s favorite part is the program in general. “I like that there is this program that gives the youth this opportunity to do and learn about.”

When one of the girls isn’t on air interviewing a person, she is in charge of playing music or adjusting sound. They get to choose which song plays during the breaks and are in charge of turning on and turning off the microphone on time, while managing the volume of each person’s microphone. Serrano’s favorite part while not talking on air, is getting to choose the music during the breaks. “I like how it gives everything a better vibe and makes being there even better.”

Sometimes when the show does not host an interview, they talk amongst themselves about topics that they relate to as well as others. They have talked about recent movies they’ve seen, the classes they’re taking in high school, and graduation, since everybody working there are seniors.

According to Lopez, they are learning how to DJ and that’s something new for her. “DJing is not my thing, so I think that’s difficult for me and that’s the challenge.” Since she’s already used to and likes talking on air, she would much rather do that instead. “At first I was nervous, but now it’s just like talking to somebody I know.”

Although the girls have a script to read, it’s still challenging. “Reading the script is hard because you cannot go back. You’re on air and the listeners have to hear your mistakes,” says Serrano. On Wednesdays when they meet up, they read the scripts to get familiar with the words and the things they’re going to say, so it isn’t hard for Monday’s show.

Now that the weekly program has ended, the girls only show up every other Mondays to do talk shows. Serrano says that she still likes everything about it because she learns new things about the different topics they talk about. “We hosted somebody that talked about financial aid and even though we knew the basics about it, I still learned a lot of new important stuff.” On the other hand, Lopez prefers to have music in the breaks and prefers to go every Monday rather than every other week because it gave her something to do.

The girls made a commitment to stay and continue to do talk shows until August. They really liked this experience and if there was another radio station with the same opportunity and experience, they would love to continue to work with radio stations.