Power Your Story

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and we know it's an important topic for teens around the world. Elvis, Emerie, Alejandro, and Jules interviewed Ashley Scott, a Chicago-based peer support specialist, mental health advocate, artist, fashion design student, and Lego fan. We talked about her career path, what it takes to work in mental health and how her own self-care practices. Ashley tells pers...

Aliyah has been one of our star producers since the beginning of Power Your Story. When she graduated, she recorded this farewell episode in her final season with Power Your Story and her last year attending Ray Graham, a high school in Chicago for diverse learners and students with disabilities. Aliyah works with Infiniteach, an incredible company that develops inclusive technology and apps for t...

What kind of music do you listen to? Can music take you around the world? We talked with Ernie Adams, an incredible Chicago-based percussionist who says he's been blessed to work in 48 countries all over the world with legendary, Grammy Award winning artists from the jazz world, the pop world, fusion world, Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music worlds and beyond. He's played on stages, done recording ses...

What do you love most about Instagram? What kept you feeling happy during the pandemic? This episode was recorded during the height of popularity for a Canadian dance duo Flow XS. Watching their high energy choreography videos was a bright spot for our producer Anaid. Here's the full transcript of our interview so you can follow along. Flow XS Website Instagram YouTube choreo video Anaid mentions...

This episode was recorded in 2020, a year that was stressful for most of us, with a lot of debates about politics, racism, police violence, and health and safety. We were dealing with what some were calling protests and others were calling riots throughout the country and certainly in Chicago in the wake of the murder of George Floyd — with everything being emotionally amplified by the effects of...

What are your favorite social media platforms? No matter where you like to spend time online, you've probably had both good and bad experiences. In this round table discussion, we share tips on how to have better experiences, deal with bullying, avoid scams and more. This episode was produced by Genaro, Joel, Aliyah, D'Vonte, with additional stories by D'Angelo, Keyanna, Jonas, Alejandro. Enjoy! h...

During the pandemic lockdown, we had a chance to talk online with Mexican American indigenous visual artist and designer Ivan Vazquez. Using art as a weapon Ivan's work portrays resilience by embracing and trusting community to help and guide him on his childhood journey growing up in Chicago. His work has allowed him to grieve the loss of best friends (Luis Trueba , Lino Diaz, Juan Zapata, and Da...

Open Mic episodes are where producers can share their ideas about a topic we've voted on earlier in the week. This time, Jules brings up the question of whether and how we can make changes to how subjects are taught in our school classrooms to be more inclusive and relevant to our life experiences. This episode was produced by Jules, Alejandro, Brandon, Natalie, Jacob, Brian, Ada, and Maya. Enjoy!...

Alejandro invited his mentor, Rudy Sosa, to the podcast to share his experiences as a leader in the Little Village community in Chicago. Rudy talks about leading vigils for neighborhoods grieving gun violence, mentoring youth through Youth Guidance's Becoming A Man® program (BAM®), lessons from Black Lives Matter, and connecting with the wisdom and traditions of your indigenous roots. This episode...

This is a Pass the Mic discussion. We asked our fans on social media "How can you have an exciting life?" We read our audience's answers and then shared our opinions about whether we agree or disagree and why. This episode was produced by Genaro, D'Angelo, Armani, Jonas, Joel, Edward, Emon, David, Brandon, and Elvis. Enjoy! http://www. PowerYourStoryPodcast.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/po...

"You don't have to pass to anyone except yourself." Our student producer Joel shares this message with anyone who is questioning or struggling with their own gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation. Joel shares a personal story of coming out to his parents and with Program Advisor, Andrea Klunder, explores the right words to describe his own identity. If you haven't already, go ba...

Gender identity, gender expression, preferred pronouns... language, options, safety -- a lot has changed over the past few years. How do you define your own identity? How do you support a friend who is struggling? What resources are availalble? Let's talk about all of it with Accessibilty Consultant Chuck Bernsohn . Resources mentioned: Chuck Bernsohn The Trevor Project Gender Spectrum A Quick & E...

Right before the pandemic interrupted production our season about "Your Future", we had the chance to interview disability advocate Ryan McGraw about the services and supports offerered at Access Living in Chicago. Access Living provides advocacy, independent living skills, transition support, peer support, information and referrals for people with disabilities. As Access Living's Health/Home and...

Elvis leads our student producers in a round table discussion about their childhood experiences growing up with a disability, how bullying has affected them, and learning to move past obstacles. This episode was produced by Elvis, Genaro, Essence, D'Angelo, D'Vonte, and Alejandro. Enjoy! http://www. PowerYourStoryPodcast.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/poweryourstorypodcast Instagram: @Power...

Our student producers in Podcast Tech wanted to wish you Merry Christmas! On this Open Mic Wednesday episode... what started as a discussion about holiday gifts, food, and movies turned into a Christmas song singalong... even if we couldn't remember all of the words. This episode was produced by Daniel, Uriel, Emilio, Jonas, Carlos, Leslie, Essence, Anabel, Itzel, Christian, Jaime, Jose, Joel, Ton...

Our student producers in Podcast Tech wanted to wish you Happy Thanksgiving! On this Open Mic Wednesday episode... Food, family, and Thanksgiving day advice. This episode was produced by Uriel, Emilio, Jonas, Daniel, Carlos, Leslie, Essence, Anabel, Itzel, Christian, Jose, Joel, and Kevyn. Enjoy! http://www. PowerYourStoryPodcast.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/poweryourstorypodcast Instagra...

COVID-19 hit the world pretty hard. In some ways, we hit rock bottom. In 2020, we recorded a round table discussion online (since we couldn't meet in person) with some of our Power Your Story student producers. We talked about masks, being stuck at home, online school, losing people, being bored, stress, and even some positive things coming from the experience. In 2022, we listened back to that di...

When mask mandates were lifted at Chicago Public High Schools this spring, we had some thoughts... like was it too soon and will we ever feel totally comfortable not wearing masks in public? Open Mic Thursdays are off the cuff commentary about whatever topic is on our minds on a particular week. These are our thoughts and opinions in the moment and can go basically anywhere. This episode features...

How can you tell if someone has a crush on you? How can you make yourself more attractive? What is consent and why is it important? How do you know if someone is catfishing you? We ask the tough and fun questions about dating and relationships with Maggie Arthur, Director of Education at Resilience, a nonprofit organization in Chicago dedicated to the healing and empowerment of sexual assault surv...

In this round table discussion, we break down what is happening between Russia and Ukraine, what we think about it, how we can help, and what we would need to live in a world without war. This episode features Adrian, Jules, Jayvon, Beck, Juan, and Jacob. http://www. PowerYourStoryPodcast.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/poweryourstorypodcast Instagram: @PowerYourStoryPodcast YouTube: After S...

Open Mic Thursdays are off the cuff commentary about whatever topic is on our minds on a particular week. These are our thoughts and opinions in the moment and can go basically anywhere. In this episode, we are talking about what it seems like the entire internet has been talking about -- Will Smith and Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. This was recorded with two separate groups of student producers....

Recorded outside at school, this is an unscripted interview that David & Edward have with Genaro, the creator of our theme music. They talk about why he loves making electronic music and whether he would study music in college. Season 7 theme is "Hobbies & Life Hacks." *** http://www. PowerYourStoryPodcast.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/poweryourstorypodcast Instagram: @PowerYourStoryPodcas...

Edward, D'Angelo, Genaro and Jonas talk with Seb from Sebz World of Sports , a show he originally created when he was in 4th grade. They talk about sports, podcasting, and getting into the middle school of your choice. The interview was originally recorded at the end of 2019 and we get an update from Seb! Check out Sebz World of Sports in your favorite podcast app or at http://www.sebzworldofsport...

Chicago-based actor, podcaster and RPG fan Andrew Saenz joins us for a lesson about how to play the classic Dungeons and Dragons. Our student producers even get to start their own adventure. Variant Rules Podcast Wizards of the Coast - DND Andrew Saenz on IMDB Season 7 theme is "Hobbies & Life Hacks." *** http://www. PowerYourStoryPodcast.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/poweryourstorypodcast...

Joel and D'Vonte are talking with Earl Geier, manager at Graham Crackers Comics, the biggest comic book store in downtown Chicago. According to his bio, Earl thinks Spider-man has been a clone since Steve Ditko left the title, and everything after 1968 is "new books". He's been reading books for almost as long as any of us, and has forgotten more about comics history than you'll ever know! Having...