PSA

This is what I've been waiting to post!  First, some background.  In the old NPS visitor center, the one we used when I first moved here, there was a small corner of a room devoted to kids.  It had games, books, bean bags, etc., and some local kids would hang out with us throughout the day.  Since we just staffed the visitor center during the summer, it was just for June to August, but they got used to coming around.  When we opened the new visitor center -- the Northwest Arctic Heritage Center -- we lost that cozy little kids' corner.  The building houses our offices and has a specific interpretive design, so there was no place to dedicate to kids.  However, we all wanted to make sure the local kids could keep the habit of visiting with us, so we established "kids' hour," from 4:00 - 5:00 every day we're open, during the whole year.  Of course kids come with parents any time, but kids' hour is for the ones playing on their own.  The kids come and go, but there are usually anywhere from 2 to 10 every day.  They look through the exhibit, watch movies, or play games in the lobby.  Whoever is working during kids' hour sometimes has a low-structure, fun, educational activity as well.

Just before we went to Nome, I realized that I needed to get a public service announcement to the radio about our summer kids' programs because we'd be starting up as soon as we returned.  It was a Thursday.  I thought it might be fun to have the kids work on the PSA -- a good experience for them, and it let me avoid the kind of attention I don't enjoy!  So, I started working on a little script in case kids came in that day.  I had about half of it finished by kids' hour, and sure enough, Tharissa and Tari showed up.  Tharissa turned out to be an excellent reader with a strong, expressive voice.  Tari struggled a little, but that struggle actually fit well in the script.  They liked the idea of working on the script.  They even wanted their own copies with their names printed on them.  We practiced for about 20 - 30 minutes before wandering on to something else.  I told them to come back the next day and we would drive to the radio station to record it.  I finished the script for Friday.  Sure enough, they came.  We practiced another 15 - 20 minutes and then went over to the radio station.

Susan Bucknell who does the radio news was super helpful.  She set them up at the microphones and directed them through several takes.  The girls were cute to watch.  Tharissa owned the whole experience, and I hope it might even inspire her in some way.  Tari's a little more timid, but she did a great job.  Susan had to edit and splice the recordings.  She was excited about the PSA and even wants us to do another one later on, but she's also very busy.  She told me she was going to stay late last night if she had to in order to finish it.  I hope she wasn't there too late, but sure enough, I had an email with the mp3 today.  I love how it turned out!  I played it for some folks in the office, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Our superintendent even sent it to the Alaska regional director, and he said she really liked it.  So, without further ado, here it is.  Hope you enjoy it.

Click here to listen to PSA

Tharissa and Tari at the radio station