July 22, 2013

Higher Achievement Pittsburgh

Higher Achievement Pittsburgh serves 5th through 8th grade students by providing a rigorous year-round learning environment, caring role models, and a culture of high expectations, resulting in college-bound scholars with the character, confidence, and skills to succeed.
As the 2012-2013 school year came to a close, we caught up with some of the mentors, interns, scholars and a program director to hear about their experiences with the Higher Achievement Pittsburgh initiative at Pittsburgh Milliones 6-12 and Pittsburgh Faison PreK-5.

July 22, 2013

Radio Camp 2013 – Day 15 – Quiz Ball

Our 15th day of Radio Camp (15!!!!????) brought with it a new game called Quiz Ball–aka Cleverly-Disguised-Learning Ball! An odd mixture of baseball, Jeopardy and classroom-indoor-ness, Quiz Ball is played by two teams and conducted in 9 innings. Each player of a team takes turns answering a radio or social studies oriented question, if they answer the question correctly they get a chance to throw a ball at the chalkboard where upon three large and four small circles are drawn representing different hits. A player can either hit a single, double or triple, while home runs are represented by the smallest circles.

July 19, 2013

Radio Camp 2013 – Day 14 – Microphone Review

On our 14th meeting, campers, after being taught–on three separate occasions–how a microphone works, after having built their very own microphones, were asked to reflect on what they had learned. And it was a ton of stuff: what “electromagnetic induction” is, that copper wire actually qualifies as a household item, and even how to pronounce the word “diaphragm!

July 18, 2013

Radio Camp 2013 – Day 13 – Microphone Building 365

On our thirteenth meeting, campers who hadn’t gotten a chance to test their handcrafted microphones in the past finally got their day in the handcrafted-microphone-testing sun! Kiyleaha tried out her maniacal laugh, Tiara had a shout-out for Chance, and everybody played with magnets.

July 17, 2013

Radio Camp 2013 – Day 12 – Microphone Building 210

It’s hard to believe, but we are officially halfway through this year’s wonderful Summer Dreamers Academy! Today we put the final touches on our very own hand-built microphones, connected them to a mixer/speaker combo, and amplified some 6th grade voices–DIY style.