Rensselaer HS Students Discuss Teen Pregnancy at WAMC

ALBANY, NY (01/14/2008)(readMedia)-- Members of the senior class from Rensselaer High School in Rensselaer County will discuss issues control on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at the WAMC Linda Norris Auditorium, 339 Central Avenue, Albany. The program - entitled “What steps can we take to further lower the rate of teen pregnancy in the United States?” - is part of WAMC’s Youth Media Project: Student Town Meetings.

Moderated by WAMC’s David Guistina, the panel for this program includes Angela Rackley, Executive Director of Youth Empowerment Services (YES), a pregnancy prevention program in the city of Albany, and Rob Curry, Senior Vice President for External Affairs, Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood. The discussion will be taped for broadcast on WAMC’s afternoon program, The Speakers’ Corner, in March, 2008.

In December, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention announced that the national birth rate among teenagers rose 3% in 2006, the first increase since 1991. The news, detailed in the report “Births: Preliminary Data for 2006,” ended a 14-year trend during which the birth rate fell by 34 percent from its all-time high in 1991. According to the most recent data, the ratio of babies born to girls ages 15-19 in 2006 was 41.9 births per 1,000.

Rensselaer HS social studies teacher Kelly Connor involved students from her Participation in Government classes in the project. They selected the discussion topic early in December, and worked with their teacher and WAMC Education Director Maryanne Malecki for approximately four weeks in preparation for the taping.

This is the third year in which Rensselaer students are involved through their social studies classes in WAMC’s Youth Media Project. Rensselaer High School Principal Michael Dawkins and Connor both feel this topic and an upcoming program on the death penalty are great selections.

WAMC’s Youth Media Project provides teachers and students with a structured process that prepares young people to critically analyze and discuss issues affecting them with recognized specialists in the community on public radio. By connecting literacy and critical thinking skills with students’ worlds in a meaningful way, WAMC’s Youth Media Project encourages young people to become part of the public radio audience.

Upcoming Student Town Meetings on The Speakers’ Corner will include high school students from Berlin, Albany, New Paltz, Schoharie, Coxsackie-Athens, Berne-Knox-Westerlo, Newburgh, Queensbury, Lake George, New Visions Law & Government Program and Hoosick Falls. Secondary educators in pubic schools interested in participating in the project should contact WAMC Education Director Maryanne Malecki at (518) 465-5233 ext. 135, or visit the Web site, www.wamcstudenttownmeetings.org. Audio versions of all previously recorded programs are available online as well.

WAMC, 90.3 FM, Albany NY; WAMC, 1400AM, Albany NY; WAMK, 90.9 FM, Kingston NY; WOSR, 91.7 FM, Middletown NY; WCEL, 91.9 FM, Plattsburgh NY; WCAN, 93.3 FM, Canajoharie NY; WANC, 103.9 FM, Ticonderoga NY; WRUN, 1150 AM, Utica, NY; WAMQ, 105.1 FM, Great Barrington MA; W205AJ, 88.9 FM, Oneonta NY; W226AC, 93.1 FM, Rensselaer-Troy NY; W299AG, 107.7 FM, Newburgh NY; W246BJ, 97.1 FM, Hudson NY; W220CE 91.9FM, Southington CT; online at www.wamc.org

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