10-year-old girl makes broadcasting history as youngest radio station manager EVER
Can you believe that the youngest person to manage a radio station (female) is only 10 years old?
From the moment you meet her, it's immediately clear that Martha Sheehan is not like all the other girls her age: at 10 years and 262 days, the UK-born radio enthusiast is the youngest person to manage a radio station (female) in history.
She feels entirely at home at the studio, and – despite her young age – Martha has already proven that she has talent in spades.
On 11 April, the young radio manager teamed up with British radio station Fun Kids to set up a very special Space Station.
Fun Kids is not new to record-breaking (having already achieved fun and incredible titles such as the first radio programme beamed into deep space) and had big plans for Martha's very first official radio station: after pushing a big red button, in a planetarium filled with kids, Martha was in total control of an entire on-air output.
Martha had curated every detail, from the playlist to the creative concept of the space-themed station, with insatiable curiosity and enthusiasm.
The radio station was launched on the morning of 9 June during a special sleepover at the National Space Centre, in Leicester, UK.
During the event, launched by the British kids' radio station in partnership with the museum, the 80 attending kids could discover the marvels of space, explore the secrets of gravity and attempt to break a very special origami record.
Ahead of the event, Martha proved her pro skills and took the lead on the creative sessions for the Space Station, immediately putting all the adults in the team to work!
Her many tasks included planning upcoming features, producing new jingles, and curating the music with dedicated playlists.
Throughout the entire journey, Martha proved that she might have been young, but she already had a clear vision for her station: the young station manager went through creative meetings at the Fun Kids headquarters in London, prepared and selected the tracks, and overlooked every creative step to ensure that everything ran smoothly during the day.
She also took care of the voiceover.
At Fun Kids, we like to put young people in the driving seat. They have the most creative ideas. So when we thought about launching a space radio station just for kids, we needed someone who knew what our audience wanted to hear, and we couldn’t have been more pleased with the job Martha has done - Fun Kids Content Producer, Lloydie James Lloyd
Fundamental in her production were alien facts, intergalactic adverts and space stories.
Official Adjudicator David Wilson was at the event to adjudicate Martha’s milestone and present her with a well-deserved Guinness World Records certificate.
During the sleepover, the kids in attendance could also try their hands at a very special Under 16 record title created specifically for the children and teenagers attending the event: the fastest time to make three origami rockets.
With a minimum to beat of 30 seconds, equalling 10 seconds per origami, the children became faster and more confident with each little paper rocket they folded.
After recording every score on a leaderboard, at the end of the night two young girls, Bethany and Alice, proved their skills and achieved the best times.
Then, it was time for the official record!
The two girls battled for the title of Origami Pro – and for the treasured GWR certificate – under the stopwatch of the adjudicator David and the cheering of their parents.
The pair engaged in a fast-paced, nail-biting origami challenge, shaving off precious seconds from every piece of paper folded while following the guidelines provided by the adjudicator. But only one could win the origami battle.
After plenty of practice – and lots of colourful paper and flying rockets – the fastest time to make three origami rockets (under 16s) was officially achieved by Bethany Mulford.
Proving incredible folding skills, Bethany completed three origami rockets in an impressive time of 27.88 seconds.
“The final was a tightly fought battle between Alice and our eventual record holder Bethany, with the support of their parents,” declared David. “Bethany followed all the guidelines and frantically folded her origami the quickest.”
Both participants folded valiantly but Bethany came out on top - David
Are you under 16 and feeling up for a one-of-a-kind challenge? Do you think you are very good at something, and can't wait to test your skills?
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