Registration now open!
Radio Camp is the perfect program for any middle schooler (or even a high school student) that just can’t stop asking questions. At Radio Camp you’ll learn how to conduct interviews using your phone and how to turn those interviews into a great-sounding feature story that might air on Saturday mornings on 88.5 WFDD!
In the process, you’ll learn how to use audio-editing software, how to write a script, how to make your interviewee sound like a chipmunk and even how to create your own fake sounds for movies and tv. Yeah, it’s not all work…we have tons of fun pushing the boundaries of what we can do with audio.
Summer 2023 dates:
• Greensboro: June 12th - June 16th
• Winston-Salem I: June 19th - June 23rd
• Winston-Salem II: June 26th - June 30th
• Boone: July 24th - July 28th
Frequently asked questions
My child is a rising middle schooler or rising high school student, does that mean they can’t participate in Radio Camp?
Radio Camp is challenging. You are working against a very real deadline and there’s a lot of work behind the production of a simple 3-minute story. We’ve created activities that we know kids ages 11 to 14 will enjoy and will be able to do in the time allotted. Now, you know your kid better than we do. If you think that they are young but up for the challenge, we are not going to turn them away. Same if they are about to go into high school, they love radio and they don’t mind hanging out with a bunch of middle-schoolers for a week. We’re not going to turn anyone away.
I work early in the morning, can I drop my kid off early?
Camp starts at 9 a.m., however, we’re usually setting up everything at around 8:30 a.m. Any earlier than that, our instructor is probably still sleeping.
Do I need to get any equipment?
No. We provide each participant with everything they need for the week. However, each participant is responsible for the equipment. So, if they break it, they’ll have to replace it.
I don’t have the means to pay for Radio Camp right now, do you offer any kind of financial aid?
Yes, we do. Thanks to the generosity of past participants, their families, and WFDD listeners, we are able to offer 2 scholarships per year. You can fill out a scholarship application here.
My kid has an idea for a story, will they be able to do that?
Not quite. As part of Radio Camp, students are randomly assigned an interviewee and they have to produce a story based on that interview. We strive to find interviewees from different backgrounds and people who are doing cool things around the community. Part of what the kids learn during Radio Camp is how to find a story that aligns with their interests no matter who they interview.
What happens if I don’t like the person my kid is interviewing?
Every summer we look for, and invite, about 70 members of the community to share their story with our campers. The selection process takes about 3 months. During this time, and every time we send out an invitation, we ask ourselves the same question: “Does this person have a story to share?.” So, we are so grateful to each interviewee for agreeing to carve out time in their schedule and being interviewed by our Radio Camp participants and once we’ve confirmed their availability, we cannot cancel the interview because the camper or the parent doesn’t like the person. Part of being a reporter is learning to set your own feelings aside and focus on the story.