Melitine Pikakos ’22 at WYSO Radio Station in Yellow Springs, Ohio
Oct 18, 2020WYSO’s mission is to connect the Larger Miami Valley (and the nation) with the community through voice, news, music, and stories. Their vision is to be, “the greatest small station in the country as measured by the number of local stories told and by the vitality of our budget, 90% of which comes from local listeners and businesses.” WYSO achieves their vision while upholding their core beliefs: collaboration, education, editorial independence, and diversity.
As a Miller Fellow at WYSO, my day-to-day tasks varied greatly. Most days I’d work on original creative pieces, taking breaks to set up community members in recording studios. My creative work bounced between writing, recording, and editing. On Wednesday nights, however, I’d help set up cables for the bands and manage the soundboard for live shows on WYSO’s program Kaleidoscope. I also prepared for WYSO’s Community Voices Class.
The Community Voices Class teaches community members how to podcast. Every last Saturday of the month for about half a year, WYSO has been teaching adults in the community the process of producing a radio piece. By the end of the program, they leave with a 4-minute radio piece to be aired. As the WYSO Miller Fellow, I was a part of the class. Most of my creative work focused on producing the radio piece. Through this class, I was connected with WYSO’s greater creative community.