![]() Dense incense smoke wafts through MAC2 as howling lutruwita winds rage outside. Credit: Tyr Liang, courtesy of Dark Mofo 2023Īfter a wild Friday Night Mass, some re-centering is in order. NYX and Do.omyoga’s Nada Sound Ceremony at Dark Mofo 2023. To listen to Erika and Norah's podcast, click here.“You’re fuckin’ kidding me? I thought they were from Norway or some shit!” NYX x DO.OMYOGA: Nada Sound Ceremony And what they are doing right now, making a podcast and amplifying their classmates' voices, is still pretty cool. "It's like I'm going to be uncool no matter what," Norah laughs, "so maybe I should just stick with what I'm doing right now."īut luckily, the friends have each other to make it through. She and her students bonded over that losing battle to be "cool" in middle school. "Because I thought different places had different things that were popular."Ĭhio remembers well that feeling of trying to keep up with the latest trends, and failing. "I've been to different states, and people there dress exactly the same as they do here, kids my age and it's really weird," Erika says. These rapidly shifting, and far-reaching trends are an inevitable part of the middle school experience, especially since the return to the classroom after the pandemic. "Trends like baggy pants, crop corset tops, curtain bangs, ripped jeans are all instigated from this app," Erika says in their podcast. Talia Herman for NPR Winners of NPR's Student Podcast Challenge, Norah Weiner and Erika Young, with their teacher Jenny Chio, at Presidio Middle School in San Francisco.īut TikTok's influence goes beyond their viral dances. They look like jellyfish, and it's really funny." And so you just see kids, like, moving their arms over their heads and like just dancing around. "The dances look kind of weird because they've likely come from TikTok."Įrika adds, "You can't hear the music. "Nowadays, when walking to school, you'll see girls literally surrounding the building who are dancing," Norah says in the podcast. One force that dominates both their virtual and in-person world? TikTok. Luckily, there is more to middle school than lockdowns. Chio says that if a lockdown lasted for several hours, she could use it, along with other toiletries, to create a DIY bathroom. The student journalists asked her to show them the emergency kit in her classroom, which among other items, has one surprising ingredient: cat litter. But she's all too familiar with lockdowns these days. The only emergency drills back then revolved around natural disasters: earthquakes or hurricanes. They interviewed their classmates and teachers about heavy topics that are, unfortunately, also a part of their daily lives.Ī grim reality for middle school students and teachersĬhio, on the other hand, can't remember ever having an active shooter drill when she was in middle or high school. One thing our judges loved about this podcast is the way the students wove in national trends with what's happening in their own school and community. "I think it's the same amount of pressure, but just amplified." "I went through it, and you guys are going through it," says Chio (pronounced CHEW), comparing her youth with the experience of today's students. They walk listeners through their day-to-day lives – everything from school lockdowns to TikTok dances in the bathroom – and how life in middle school today is different from when their English teacher, Jenny Chio, was a student. ![]() "Gun violence, social media and mental health are literally shaping middle school," Norah says in their podcast. While our high school winner this year tackled a big local news story, with reporting from students and educators, Erika and Norah took on a more universal experience – the ups and downs of being a middle-schooler today. Their giddy laughter fills the empty school, their energy fueled by the knowledge that, in just a few days, they're off to summer camp together. Norah shows up to our interview wearing boots that she borrowed from Erika for the special occasion. The two friends just finished the seventh grade, but haven't been separated yet - they have seen each other every day since school let out. It is one of two Grand Prize winners chosen by our judges from more than 3,300 submissions from 48 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. ![]() In a classroom at Presidio Middle School, not far from the Golden Gate Bridge, 13-year-olds Erika Young and Norah Weiner sat down to tell us about their podcast. ![]()
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