The Andy Zanca Youth Empowerment Program (AZYEP) is celebrating a quarter of a century of getting kids on the airwaves. Coming up on June 7, the youth radio team will host a party — of the century — in front of its home at KDNK Community Access Radio.
The entire block from Main Street to Garfield Avenue will be closed off and a stage will be rolled in whereupon teen bands and DJs shall entertain the masses, along with current participants and alumni who will share how their experience at AZYEP changed their lives, and in the best way.
The program is older now than Andy was when he left this plane, as his niece, Megan Webber, pointed out. Andy was a Carbondale kid through and through, and his presence at KDNK in the ‘80s and through the ‘90s inspired youth radio as we know it here locally. Walking through the doors and up to the second story of the Dinkel Building, where KDNK was originally stationed, young Andy was welcomed with open arms — a contrast to some of the bullying he endured outside that safe haven.
“When he was 9, he wandered into KDNK … and the adults took him in and embraced him,” Andy’s sister, Annemarie Zanca, told The Sopris Sun.
Tragically, Andy died by suicide at 21. Not long after, Annemarie started AZYEP in his memory with a mission to provide young people with the same sense of empowerment and belonging her brother once cherished — all through community radio.
“He had a place where he belonged,” she reiterated. “That was so much of what I wanted to create, was a place where young people feel like they belong.” Just as KDNK embraced her brother, it embraced the formation of AZYEP, which began with just 30 minutes of airtime as a talk radio show.
While Webber doesn’t remember her uncle, who passed away when she was just 9 months old, she has felt attuned with him as a kindred spirit. She recalled going to the radio station with her mom and feeling the same sense of welcoming her uncle did. She went on to participate as a youth DJ, an intern during college and, today, works as its news and education director.
Webber passionately affirmed that AZYEP is a safe space for all, and that diversity is one of its pillars. Especially today, with hateful rhetoric being vindicated and institutions facing federal funding cuts for using inclusive language, she considers these as invaluable components of the program. To Webber, the fact is that kids may not always feel safe among their peers, or even at home. She holds dear that AZYEP is a place where anyone will always be free to be themselves.
Today, AZYEP reaches hundreds and is a second home to any kid who wants to make it so. Programming includes classroom collaborations, where staff and interns go to the schools to record voices that might not otherwise get on the radio; six hours a week of live radio curated by a pool of 60 youth DJs; youth-produced public affairs podcasting, including five regular series; radio classes and summer workshops; and its internship program.
In short, the program has grown exponentially. Executive Director Brendan Girardot, following in his predecessor Beth Wysong’s footsteps, endeavors to expand to western Garfield County — particularly through its classroom collaborations — to reach even more kids.
Mental health remains a staple of the program. In fact, the interns help facilitate regular roundtables, where adults and youth community members come together to chime in on a topic related to mental health. This speaks to a sort of intergenerational blending through AZYEP that helps young people feel listened to.
Intern Caden Smith, 15, initially came to AZYEP by way of Ross Montessori School, which sent a handful of students over on Wednesday afternoons. He took to the inclusive atmosphere at the station, and the program nurtured an existing passion for music. From spinning tracks live from the studio to interviewing popular and up-and-coming artists and producing content, Smith said that AZYEP meets kids, such as himself, where they’re at and provides them with the tools to develop their interests and skills.
“It doesn’t feel like, ‘You have to do this,’ or you have to do these certain projects,” explained Smith. “It’s very much like you get to do whatever you want with it.”
Notably, four of AZYEP’s current employees, including Girardot and Webber, were once youth participants themselves. Parker Wilson graduated high school last year, but remains onboard as a broadcast instructor. It’s a revolving door, so to speak.
“I don’t ever feel like my opinion is not heard here, and that is what makes it feel like a home,” concluded Smith.
So come on down to KDNK (76 South 2nd Street in Carbondale) on June 7 between noon and 4, have a mocktail, enjoy some Dustino’s Pizza Strada and souped-up snow cones from Colorado Snow, lawn games and tie-dying your very own 25th anniversary AZYEP t-shirt. For more information, visit www.azyep.org
