Seventy percent of public schools in Baltimore City are in poor condition, needing major renovations or new buildings, which are estimated to cost over $2 billion. Most of the city's students learn in schools that are too cold in the wintertime and too hot in the summertime, that don't allow natural lighting into the classroom, and that lack modern science and technology labs. How do these conditions affect not only student but teacher performance? What kind of messages are they sending to kids? What can be done to raise the money necessary to fund a full-scale modernization project?    

Working with The Intersection staff, two students without any prior radio experience -- Marshae Bazemore, an 8th grader at Baltimore Freedom Academy, and Christian Robertson, an 11th grader at the Friendship Academy of Science and Technology -- created a brief audio documentary to answer these questions. Outfitted with radio gear from the Baltimore Community Radio Coalition and training from seasoned radio journalists, the students researched the issue, wrote the questions, interviewed the experts, chose the sound bites, and crafted the story structure. 

Help with this story came from Scott Goldberg, Alex Crockett, Haley Panneton, and Chris Lawson. It premiered at The Intersection's Community Conversation on April 27 at the Baltimore Freedom Academy.

A Report Card on Baltimore School Facilities

The Intersection is a non-profit organization dedicated to shifting expectations for Baltimore’s young people. We seek to foster leadership among at-risk teens by training them to develop community-organizing skills. Through mentoring and community-based projects, we work to transform their perceptions of themselves, and their communities.