The KHOI community radio promotes radio in a different way than what we may be use to. Instead of commercial broadcasting, KHOI advertises itself as free speech radio, and welcomes any voice from the community. And kids are an equal part of the community, which is what KHOI’s “A Youth Radio Show” is all about: having kids let their voice be heard.

“Kids have a voice, and deserve a chance to be heard” says Jo Myers-Walker of KHOI community radio, who hosted the event. Kids got the chance to experience and practice what it is like to broadcast for radio by planning made-up stories and news. Although attendance wasn’t big, the quality of the kids’ talent made up for small quantity.

“What I like about radio stations is that they can actually tell you something about lives.” Says Ethan Morton, a 9 year old of the Story County community. “They can report to you what stuff is about and what happened over the years and how it’s changed.”

Meanwhile, Isabele Ingram, 12, and Selaam Dollisso, 12, had a comedy sketch that they came up with all on their own.

“It was kind of like a ‘how to’ (show), where we had different points of view… We didn’t really agree, but we put on characters (based on that).”

And on top of it all, KHOI’s youth radio program has most recently established partnerships with www.radijojo.de between their youth group and their international youth radio network coordinated through Berlin, Germany. What this means for kids is that they have an opportunity to let their voices be heard even to the other side of the world.