Take a Girl Scout to Work at WHRO

Isabella and Barbara Hamm Lee

Barbara Hamm Lee, host of “Another View” on WHRV, welcomed Isabella, a Norfolk ninth grader, to WHRO on April 14 as part of the Take a Girl Scout to Work program. Take a Girl Scout to Work Day was modeled after the national Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, where each year more than 3.5 million American workplaces open their doors to more than 39 million employees and their children.

Isabella, accompanied by her mother Dawn Devita, started her day in the production meeting for “Another View.” The hour-long program, during which Lee discusses today’s topics from an African American perspective, airs every Friday at noon. With less than two hours until going live, Isabella joined Producer Lisa Godley and Audio Engineer Victor Bowen in Lee’s office to go over the final plans for the show. Lee shared with Isabella how she is always monitoring the news, looking for topics that would be of interest to her listeners, during the week leading up to the show. During Isabella’s visit, Lee was gearing up for her monthly roundtable episode, where she welcomes regular guests to share their perspectives on the topics that Lee chooses. After reviewin a sound clip and confirming some facts for the topics of the week, Isabella headed to the production booth, while Lee finished preparing for the show and welcomed her guests.

In the production booth, Bowen showed Isabella the equipment that he uses to manage the sound for the program, including adding sound clips from newscasts and letting callers ask questions on air. He also talked about his background and the education needed to become an audio engineer. Right before going live, Godley arrived in the production booth, ready to run the show from behind the scenes. She showed Isabella how she can communicate with Lee via instant message during the live show to let her know about callers and feedback from listeners.

“My favorite part of the day was when Barbara and her guests were on air,” Isabella said. “I liked listening to them and getting a clearer understanding about how they felt about specific topics.”

After the show, Isabella had the chance to meet the roundtable panelists and speak to them about their careers, ranging from college professor to newspaper columnist. Before heading out for the day, Isabella had another chance to chat with Lee in her office about her job. Isabella, who is homeschooled, was excited to learn from Lee that WHRO has an education department with resources for students who are homeschooled. Isabella also had the chance to share her interests with Lee and was excited to share that she has recently earned the Girl Scout Silver Award, which is the second highest honor and achievement a girl can earn in Girl Scouting.

Lee, who is a Girl Scout alumna, signed up to host a girl for Take a Girl Scout to Work Day through the Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast alumnae association. Through opportunities, such as Isabella’s experience with Lee, Girl Scouts is able to introduce girls to professionals who show girls that they can be whatever they want to be.