The Unofficial School Radio
13UNITED STATESSHORT STORY
Amari
7/31/20262 min read
The school had no radio station, but that did not stop Amari from starting one.
He found an unused storage room beside the music classroom, borrowed an old microphone from the drama teacher, and connected it to a speaker that had survived three sports days and one very rainy assembly.
His first broadcast reached only the corridor outside.
“Good morning,” Amari said into the microphone. “This is Station A, bringing you news that the cafeteria has run out of mandazi.”
Three students stopped walking.
“That is all,” Amari added.
By lunchtime, everyone was talking about the mysterious announcement.
The deputy headteacher was less amused.
“You cannot broadcast through school equipment without permission,” she told him.
Amari expected the station to end immediately. Instead, she handed him a form.
“Write a proposal.”
The proposal became six pages long. Amari promised to share school announcements, interview students, and avoid reporting cafeteria shortages unless confirmed by two reliable sources.
Station A received permission to broadcast for ten minutes every Friday morning.
At first, Amari did everything himself. He read announcements, chose music, and interviewed teachers. Then students began sending ideas.
One wanted to review books. Another wanted to explain science facts. A quiet Year Seven student named Njeri asked to read a poem but became frightened when she saw the microphone.
“You don’t have to,” Amari told her.
“I want to. I just don’t want everyone looking at me.”
“No one can see you on radio.”
Njeri considered this.
The following Friday, she read her poem from behind a curtain. Her voice shook during the first line but grew stronger with each sentence.
After the broadcast, three students asked whether she had written more.
Station A changed after that. It became less about Amari’s voice and more about finding voices that were usually lost in crowded classrooms.
They interviewed the groundskeeper about the trees he had planted twenty years earlier. Students recorded greetings in the languages spoken at home. A group of younger children created a weekly segment called “Questions Adults Avoid,” beginning with, “Why do teachers say the bell does not dismiss us when the bell clearly dismisses us?”
By the end of the year, the storage room had become too small for the radio team.
During the final broadcast, Amari looked around at the cables, handwritten schedules, and students waiting for their turn.
He had started the station because he liked speaking.
He stayed because he had learned the value of listening.