The best way to spread cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

— Elf (attributed to Buddy the Elf, written by David Berenbaum)

Express Yourself! teen radio host, Julia Howe, is part of a Grammy-winning choral group who have recently been nominated for Best American Roots Song and Best American Folk Album for the 67th Grammy Awards as we were featured on folk artist Aoife O' Donovan's recent album All My Friends. Julia begins the program by talking about the history of Christmas caroling. The word “carol” comes from the Old French word carole, (cahull), which meant a circle dance with singing. She provides the background of caroling from the early days of Christianity until modern times. She then introduces the choral groups that provide the beautiful holiday music you’ll hear.

The Waves

The Waves is a Bay Area youth-led acappella group that blends traditional and modern songs, pushing the boundaries of choir music with creative experimentation. The group aims to bring youth perspectives to traditional choral performance.

The San Francisco Girls Chorus

San Francisco Girls Chorus prepares girls and young women from diverse backgrounds for success, on stage and in life, through rigorous, empowering music education, and enriches Bay Area cultural life through innovative vocal performance.

www.sfgirlschorus.org

Lick-Wilmerding Vocal Ensemble

The Lick-Wilmerding Vocal Ensemble offers training to high school students with no prior experience, transforming them into confident performers. With a focus on vocal technique and musical expression, the ensemble builds a community of young singers who are passionate about music and performance.

The next time you hear a carol, think about the history of caroling, connecting to centuries of celebrations, resilience, and pure holiday magic.

Happy Holiday Hootenanny from Express Yourself!™ Teen Radio, StarStyle® Productions, LLC, and Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3 charity.

Enjoy the beautiful voices. Savor the show!

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“The joy of brightening others’ lives becomes for us the magic of the holidays” WC Jones

Have you ever spent the holidays in a different part of the world from your home? Sharanya and Diya share fun places where they have traveled for Christmas and where they plan to go this year. Diya also talks about other holidays that she wants to celebrate and funny traditions. Sharanya talks about books that she enjoys reading during the holidays including The Tale of Two Cities and Hannukah Miracle.

Travel and the holidays seem to go together. Wherever you go, celebrate the joy of this festive season. Be safe, be joyful. Create the magic. Happy Holidays!

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“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” –Hamilton Wright Mabie

Ah, the holidays. For some, it's the most magical time of the year—twinkling lights, cozy nights, and the smell of cookies baking in the oven. But if you’re a teenager? Let’s be real—the holidays can be a bit...complicated. Join host, Julia and guest Steffi as they discuss the joy and angst teens face during the holiday season. Steffi shares the psychology of the season.

When you're a kid, the holidays are all about magic. Cookies just appear, gifts magically arrive, and the world feels wrapped up in a sparkly bow. But as a teen, the curtain gets pulled back. Suddenly, you’re in charge of buying gifts (on what budget, exactly?), maybe working a holiday shift, and trying to squeeze in studying for exams. For teens, the takeaway is this: The holidays don’t have to be magical in the way you thought as a kid. It’s okay to feel a little stressed or even underwhelmed. But carving out small, meaningful moments—laughing with a friend, bingeing holiday movies, or just taking a deep breath—can make all the difference.

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“The poll that matters is the one that happens on election day.” – Heather Wilson

Teen radio host Keerthi discusses the results of the 2024 election and reports on how teens are reacting to the results. She first provides a humorous rendition of the history of America’s election system and the grand experiment of democracy. For all its flaws, America’s election system is a beautiful, chaotic mess. It’s powered by millions of people who care enough to show up—sometimes in person, by mail, and sometimes just to yell about it on Facebook. Keerthi then focuses on the unprecedented events of this election: Joe Biden dropping out of the race, the first Black/South Asian woman, Kamala Harris stepping up, a convicted felon in Trump running for the third time, and the meme-able moments from all the debates. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris represented two vastly different political ideologies, which explain their respective support bases and policy priorities. Keerthi identifies the varied values of each candidate. Many teens believe that America is doomed. However one feels about the election results, the best way to create a better country is to communicate, listen, and share our goals, thoughts, and dreams.

Read our Newsletter: Thanksgiving Gratitude: https://open.substack.com/pub/cynthiabrian/p/thanksgiving-gratitude

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“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” – Lionel Hampton

Julia hosts a special Thanksgiving program focused on gratitude and thankfulness. Julia tells the true history of the first Thanksgiving, which is a bit different from what we were taught. This is a “Truth-giving”. instead of celebrating the myth, we celebrate the truth.

Thanksgiving is a day of gratitude—and Julia encourages us to reshape this holiday by choosing to learn, honor, and share truths to respect Native cultures and stories. Choose a holiday that doesn’t just celebrate harvest and family, but also honesty, empathy, and justice. Reporters Kirpa and Milan talk about the meaning of gratitude and share what they are grateful for. The power of gratitude encourages living in the present moment. Family and friends always top the gratitude list, but also include gratitude for health, democracy, and freedom. Find your way to practice gratitude, give back, and share the love! Have a happy and bountiful Thanksgiving.

We are grateful for YOU! Thanks for tuning in to Express Yourself!® Teen Radio!

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Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known. -Carl Sagan

As humanity ventures deeper into space, a big challenge has become the effects of space debris. Saanvi Phaneendra discusses what space debris is and why it is so dangerous. What is space debris? Simply put, it's any man-made object in orbit that no longer serves a purpose. This includes everything from old satellites and discarded rocket stages to tiny fragments created by collisions and disintegrations.

How does all this junk end up in space? Every time a spacecraft is launched, bits and pieces of the rocket are left behind in orbit. As more missions take place, the number of debris steadily increases. Collisions between objects—whether they’re active satellites or fragments of debris—only add to the mess, creating even more fragments. Saanvi then interviews her sister, Siri Phaneendra, a former radio host who recently graduated from UC Berkeley in Business and Data Science. Siri was a project manager for one of UC Berkeley’s data science consulting organizations. Siri led a project with DataGood, a consulting organization that focuses on projects with a social impact. Their project aimed to analyze data from a dataset operated by the U.S. Strategic Command, to understand space debris better and find ways to reduce its risks. Tune in to find out more about working with the stars to clean up space debris and keep our planet safe..

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“Young people are not just the leaders of tomorrow; they are the change-makers of today.” – Barack Obama

Julia and Keerthi host this election episode to discuss how teens influence election outcomes.

Julia focuses on the new media company Jubilee, which is shaking up political discourse online and inspiring a new level of engagement among young people. Through debates on hot-button issues, like abortion restrictions, gun control, the 2024 election, Jubilee’s “Middle Ground” series draws millions of viewers. Youth reporter Milan, talks about the Republican and Democratic parties and who is running for office. Democracy means that we the people, get to vote and choose our president or any other elections. Keerthi says that teens may not be voting, but they are shaping elections with their views. This election is about the future—teens future.

So how can we, the “too-young-to-vote” crowd, make waves in 2024?

Get Informed

Start Conversations:

Use Your Platforms

Volunteer and Participate

Remember Teen Voices Are Powerful

The future is powered by the teen generation, so speak up in the election!

Watch out world!

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“Technology, like art, is a soaring exercise of the human imagination” - Daniel Bell

Saanvi Phaneendra, host for today’s AI presentation , is the founder of Galactic Getaway, a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring curiosity and passion for space exploration. Galactic Getaway brings hands-on learning experiences and new-generation interactive rocket model displays to communities, helping youth engage with STEM and imagine their future in space technology. Saanvi discusses how AI isn’t just supporting space missions—it’s becoming a crucial partner. From rovers on Mars to managing satellites orbiting Earth, AI is making space missions smarter and more autonomous. One of the big challenges of space is the time delay in communications, especially for missions far from Earth. AI solves this by making real-time decisions when human intervention isn’t possible, and this is helping push space exploration to new heights.

Saanvi then introduces a special guest, Siri Phaneendra, who is not only her older sister, but explores the fascinating technology of Generative AI. GenAI, refers to AI systems that are capable of creating new content—whether that’s text, images, music, or even complex code. What makes it different from traditional AI is that it doesn’t just analyze data; it uses that data to generate something new. Think of it like a digital artist or writer. Siri also discusses the challenges and ethical concerns that come with GenAI, the importance of regulations, and its most impactful applications.

Everything you wanted to know about AI and didn’t know who to ask! Tune in!

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Hosts Julia, Keerthi, and Sharanya, along with volunteers Ella and Sean star in this special edition of Express Yourself!™ Teen Radio as they reminisce about the extraordinary celebration in which they participated on September 28, 2024: the Parade and Pear Festival hailing the 50th anniversary of the Town of Moraga and the 25th anniversary of Be the Star You Are!® charity. It was a day beyond everyone’s wildest expectations and so much fun. The chairperson of the parade, Ella, wrangled her wonderful and generous parents into renting a truck which they decorated with stars, banners, and balloons. Volunteers marched with banners and balloons chanting “Read, lead, succeed!” as Madeleine cookies were thrown to the crowds. Keerthi and Sharanya chaired the Pear Festival booth, Julia cooked up delicious treats for the 25th-anniversary party, and Sean, the official BTSYA videographer ran around shooting stills and videos. Children planted seeds to take home as part of the Plant the Seeds of Literacy program, books were read to enthralled children, many freebies were distributed, and the sweet sensations of being part of a vibrant, inclusive community were in the air. When the volunteers were recognized on stage as the 2024 Nonprofit of the Year, Ella gave a beautiful speech acknowledging the accomplishments of the volunteers, supporters, and everyone who donates their expertise to make this a better world. The Chamber of Commerce organized a ribbon cutting to commemorate the 25th anniversary of BTSYA’s service, which was a very special event for the teens. Praise for the positive outreach programs, radio broadcasts, and community service of Be the Star You Are!® was recognized and most of all, everyone declared it was a day to remember in posterity!

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Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. – Joshua J. Marine

Host, Saanvi Phaneendra with reporters Diya and Hasini tackle a topic that every teen can relate to: challenges. Challenges come in all shapes and sizes, from small daily struggles to monumental obstacles that seem impossible to overcome. But here’s the thing about challenges: they’re not just roadblocks; they’re stepping stones.

Every challenge is an opportunity to grow, to learn, and to become stronger than before. Whether it’s in our personal lives, our careers, or even in the vast and mysterious expanse of space, challenges push us to innovate, adapt, and keep moving forward. They remind us that nothing worth achieving comes easy, and that persistence is the key to success.

As the Space Spotlight reporter, Saanvi discusses one of NASA’s most ambitious endeavors: the Artemis Mission. It’s not just a return to the Moon; it’s a mission that aims to pave the way for future human exploration of Mars. The Artemis program is daring, groundbreaking, and yes, full of enormous challenges.

The next time you face a challenge, no matter how big or small, don’t shy away from it. Face it. Embrace it. See it for what it is – an opportunity. An opportunity to push your boundaries, to find new solutions, and to emerge stronger and wiser than before.

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