ACE Spectrum

Grad and Current Fellows Report on How KALW Audio Academy Helps Audio Journalism Careers

Posted by Martha Sessums on May 9, 2022 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Ben Trefny, Interim Executive Director, KALW Public Media

I keep in touch with many graduates of KALW‘s Audio Academy, and I’ve recently been catching up with several of last year’s graduating class. Found out, in fact, that Annelise Finney is hosting weekend newscasts at KQED Public Radio in San Francisco, and her classmate Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman is editing KQED’s weekend reporters. It’s awesome to see their careers evolving!

I asked Azul to share a few words about his progression in the industry:

A couple months after graduating from the Audio Academy in June of 2021, I got hired at KQED as an on-call reporter. For several months I worked anywhere from two to four shifts a week, covering breaking news and events all over the Bay Area for on-air newscasts. I also worked as an on-call producer for shows like Forum and The California Report, as well as an Editor on the Digital Team. Being on-call at KQED also meant I could report feature stories for The California Report Magazine and Bay Curious. I just got hired as the Interim Weekend Editor at KQED.

This new role is my biggest responsibility yet. It’s full time (for the next 3 months), and I’m in charge of assigning stories to our entire six-person team, which includes both radio and digital reporters, editing their stories when they are ready, and hopefully having time to do some of my own reporting too.

I’m amazed at how many of the journalistic fundamentals I learned at the Audio Academy I still use every day. Whether it’s writing for radio, fact-checking, voicing, or just knowing what ingredients make a good radio story. Most of all, I think one of the most valuable pieces of advice from the Audio Academy was not to lose my own voice in my work. That’s something I think a lot of reporters struggle with in this industry and something that bears repeating. I’ve done a lot since I graduated from the Audio Academy, and I can’t emphasize enough how well it prepared me for a new career in audio journalism.

Love hearing all that!

Meanwhile, our current Audio Academy fellows have about a month-and-a-half remaining before their own graduation. Here are some thoughts from current Audio Academy fellow Ryan Howzell:

My time in Audio Academy has helped me view my home and community through different eyes (and ears!). A highlight from working on my current feature about the equity in Oakland parklands was getting a guided tour of Joaquin Miller Park from members of a volunteer park stewardship group in the East Bay hills. Due to omicron, I couldn’t get out much in the field for my first feature, so spending an hour in the park, recording the sounds of flowing creeks, birds, and my guides’ perspectives on history, equity, and ownership in the park — armed with my nifty H5 zoom recorder — really made me feel like a real field reporter for the first time. A reliable favorite part of Audio Academy is our weekly Newsday check-in call. I love seeing editors, engineers, producers, hosts, and reporters all in one place and hearing the often zany stories people share about their lives. I feel like KALW has built a supportive community space through these calls — even over Zoom! I can’t believe my time as a fellow is coming to an end, but I can’t wait to see the stories my peers and I create in the meantime.

What’s next? Ryan is working with KALW host Hana Baba on a program about Sudan for the World Affairs Council!

So proud of all our fellows and graduates. Keep your ears open — you’ll probably hear them on the radio!

Great Way to Sign off from National Poetry Month – Have Poems in Your Pockets

Posted by Martha Sessums on Apr 28, 2022 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Dexter and Luna, ACE Poetry Contest Mascots and representatives for Alpha Schools; Max, ACE Poetry Contest Mascot for SFIHS; and Bessie, ACE Poetry Contest Mascot for OIHS. Oh, yes, Martha helped type. She likes to participate.

It’s a beautiful ending to National Poetry Month. Tomorrow, April 29, is Poem in Your Pocket Day, and that means you can have a poem in your pocket to share with anyone you meet. Dexter here, but I’m with the whole gang of ACE Poetry Contest mascots and we want to share some great poems that are in our pockets today as practice for sharing them tomorrow.

Luna here. Define pocket please. I think a “pocket” can be anything. It can be written on a piece of paper or in your journal that’s in your backpack or your purse. Or typed on your smartphone. Or not-so-smart phone. Tattooed on your arm. Or your poem can be tagged in a book of poems that can carried anyplace, even in your jeans pocket.

Max here. The problem with us mascots is that we have no pockets. So, our poems must be memorized so we can bark them out to anyone who passes.

 

 

 

Or who we fly by. Bessie here and my pocket poems must be short because I fly fast and don’t stick long anywhere. I need to share short poems so my listeners can hear my whole poem.

Are we all ready to share our special poems in our so called pockets? Great, who wants to go first?

I am, I’m first. Luna here, pushing to the front of the line.  Here’s my poem for Poem in Your Pocket Day.

First Fig
By Edna St. Vincent Millay

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends
It gives a lovely light!

(Note from Martha: all three dog mascots barked at Luna’s poem and Bessie clapped her wings.)

I think I need to go next. Max here to update the poets. Here’s a poem from Joy Harjo, our current US Poet Laureate.  It’s called Invisible Fish and it’s in Harjo’s typical style. Just poetic words that make up sentences.

Invisible fish swim this ghost ocean now described by waves of sand, by water-worn rock. Soon the fish will learn to walk. Then humans will come ashore and paint dreams on the dying stone. Then later, much later, the ocean floor will be punctuated by Chevy trucks, carrying the dreamers’ descendants, who are going to the store.

(Note from Martha: Dexter and Luna nodded their heads while Max smiled. Bessie clapped her wings quickly.)

Oh, great poems. Bessie here. I wrote my own poem so I guess I would call it flyyerel poetry. To go along with doggerel and catterel poetry. So here goes. It’s haiku style – short and simple but hopefully inspirational.

Fly
By Bessie

Golden wings at rest
Much more to learn calls to me
I rise to the sky  

(Note from Martha: all three dogs paused then barked and jumped up and down several times. Bessie bowed her antenna.)

Guess it’s my turn. Dexter on the stage now. A poem not too old, not exactly recent, but is spot on in its POV.

Risk
By Anais Nin

And then the day came,
when the risk
to remain tight
in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took
to blossom.

(Note from Martha: all three dogs howled and Bessie flew up in the sky and returned to the flower she was resting on. Dexter then spoke.)

That was a great set of short poems for Poem in Your Pocket Day. Thank you, ACE Poetry Contest mascots. You have done a great job but it’s time for us to say goodbye to National Poetry Month. Next up on the ACE Spectrum blog will be poems of the Winners of the ACE Poetry Contest, and they are always great. Fabulous actually.

Keep reading and writing poems everyone. Poems are your voice. See you next year.

Poets Come in All Shapes and Sizes But it’s the Strong Mind That Counts

Posted by Martha Sessums on Apr 25, 2022 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Dexter and Luna, ACE Poetry Contest Mascots, helped by Martha who seems to like punching keyboard keys one at a time instead of all at once like we love to do

Dexter here. How’s your National Poetry Month been going, Luna? I must say I’ve been having a lot of fun barking poems to Russ as we go for walks. I also have barked poems to people who come to the door. They think I’m just barking at them, but I’m really barking poetry.

Ha, me too. Luna here, and I’ve been barking a few poems and pushing my way through groups of people to make sure they’re paying attention to my poems. Sometimes you need to be pushy to make them pay attention, but I’m friendly and cute when I’m pushy, so most people pay attention to my poems.

One of the cool things about this month is the different poets I’ve learned about. One is Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo who is considered to be Africa’s first modern poet and great literary artist from Madagascar. He grew up poor and never completed what we would call high school, but he educated himself in the French language and traditional Malagasy poetry. He published poems when he was a teenager that were published in literary reviews and then went on to publish several poetry collections as well as an opera and two novels.

Wow, Luna. That’s pretty cool. Thank you for introducing me (Dexter) to this poet and his poetry.  One of his poems we both loved is about birds. The cool thing about poetry is that it tells personal stories in a sometimes hidden way, and this poem says that the one who succeeds isn’t necessarily the strongest or the most beautiful. It’s the one that is a free thinker, one that is sure of him or herself and free from their “body” who makes an impact on others and the world. Check it out.

The Three Birds

Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo
Translated from the French by Vivek Narayanan

The iron bird, the bird of steel
who after having lacerated the clouds of morning
would want to puncture the stars
beyond the day,
retreats, as if in remorse,
into an artificial cave.

 The corporeal bird, the feathered bird,
who forces a tunnel through the wind
to get to the moon he’s seen in a dream
among the branches
falls with the night
into a labyrinth of leaves.

And the disembodied one
who ravishes the custodian of the skull
with a stammering song—
opens those echoing wings
moves to pacify space
never to return except once, as an immortal.

I’m glad you liked the poem, Dexter. Next time we bark at birds we’ll ask ourselves is this a bird of steel, a bird more concerned with their body or a bird who flies high and becomes immortal because they have a strong mind. That’s a poetic lesson for all of us.

Luna, that’s because both of us have strong minds. Just ask Ross who we hang with, takes us for walks and teaches us how to be good dogs and gives us yummy treats. We hope that all you poets out there are enjoying learning about poetry and are bravely writing poems. Poets come in all shapes and forms, but it’s the poet’s mind that finds the words to rise above and find each poet’s truths.

Happy last week of National Poetry Month. Enjoy those poem treats.