Class Of 2025

The Class Of 2025 is in middle school but transitioning soon to high school. Here's an episode looking further out, and what it's like to be in a different transition - going away to college in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two middle school teachers talk to OPB Think Out Loud host Dave Miller about what it’s like in the virtual classroom right now -- how to keep students engaged, talk about current events, and what might happen when things go back to “normal.”

Here’s another youth-produced podcast, this time from KUOW in Seattle. It’s called RadioActive. In this episode, teen reporters combine a fictional story with questions and answers about polarization, belonging, and social media.

We’ve wrapped up this season of Class Of 2025, but we’re back to share another show we think you’ll like: tbh, from KALW. It’s a chance to hear straight from high school students in the Bay Area. This episode, they’re talking about race, education, and punishment.

Middle school is almost over for the Class Of 2025 -- high school is next. An update on 8th grade, and a look to the future.

For two Black students in the Class Of 2025, learning at home has been better than getting an education in-person. Why? How do these students’ experiences in school with peers and teachers compare to being at home with parents and pets? We hear Rayshawn and Josh’ stories, plus talk to a couple of University of Virginia professors.

We’ll be back next week with episode 6, but here’s a bonus in the meantime - a conversation with OPB host Geoff Norcross and Michael Contreras, principal of Ron Russell Middle School - where most of the Class Of 2025 goes to school.

Middle school is a time of changes -- academic, social, emotional, and physical. For boys, puberty tends to start in the middle of middle school -- later than for girls. What effect does that have on differences between boys' and girls' learning and behavior? How much do "old school" gender roles play into it? Johnathan and Joel share their challenges with middle school, and we'll talk brains with a neuroscientist.

It’s Friday the 13th, the last day of in-person school, and Nathan Tew was teaching about the bubonic plague. New teachers to a middle school reflect on how the school year blew up, their scramble to maintain contact with students, and how things are going now.

Teens are online a lot, and the pandemic pushed teens online even more -- whether through a computer or phone screen. At the same time, adolescence is an important time for building friendships and social connections. How are teens staying connected? Kaylie, Ava, Osvaldo, and Josh share their digital insights.