Youth Radio Institute: Fontezia Walker (American Graduate)
From: WUNC
Series: American Graduate
Length: 05:35
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The series from the WUNC Youth Radio Institute concludes with a story from Fontezia Walker. She's 19 and had a number of setbacks while working towards her high school diploma. As you'll hear in this report, she and her sister struck out on their own -- by deciding to stay home.
The WUNC Summer Youth Radio Institute was made possible by a grant from the Grable Foundation. It's part of WUNC's American Graduate Project -- an on-going series of reports and engagement activities exploring the drop-out crisis in North Carolina. Our American Graduate work is made possible by the contribution of WUNC listeners and through gifts from the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation, Farrington Foundation,GlaxoSmithKline, Goodnight Educational Foundation, State Farm, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
The series from the WUNC Youth Radio Institute concludes with a story from Fontezia Walker. She's 19 and had a number of setbacks while working towards her high school diploma. As you'll hear in this report, she and her sister struck out on their own -- by deciding to stay home.
The WUNC Summer Youth Radio Institute was made possible by a grant from the Grable Foundation. It's part of WUNC's American Graduate Project -- an on-going series of reports and engagement activities exploring the drop-out crisis in North Carolina. Our American Graduate work is made possible by the contribution of WUNC listeners and through gifts from the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation, Farrington Foundation,GlaxoSmithKline, Goodnight Educational Foundation, State Farm, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Broadcast History
WUNC
Transcript
Fontezia Walker: I live in a 3-room apartment in North Durham. Our home is filled with squeaky stairways, and the sounds of noisy neighbors. I live with my older sister, her son - and the memory of my mother.
Denyatta Walker: umm right know were in my room. umm this the room that my mother passed away in
Fontezia Walker: That's my older sister -- Denyatta. Our mom, Renee Green, died when I was 16. Denyatta was 18 -- which helped -- because she's a legal adult we could choose to stay in this apartment and I didn't have to go into foster care. We wanted to stay -- in part because it is the only home the 3 of us have ever known.
Jae'Von Walker: I like spiderman ice cream!
Fontezia Walker: Jayvon is my sister's son -- he was 15 months old when my mom died -- in the years since we've been keeping her memory alive for him, with pictures that are all over our apartment. Jayvon calls he...
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Intro and Outro
INTRO:the WUNC Youth Radio Institute concludes with a story from Fontezia Walker. She's 19 and had a number of setbacks while working towards her high school diploma. As you'll hear in this report, she and her sister struck out on their own -- by deciding to stay home.
OUTRO:Fontezia Walker is 19-years-old. She says she's looking for a job and plans to attend Durham Tech in the Spring where she hopes to study journalism.
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