The students of Manchester Youth Development Center have something new for your podcast feed.
Voices Across The River: Building Bridges is a youth-led podcast project, amplifying voices and connecting stories across our rivers and beyond. Students created the podcast over several months, as their teachers instructed them on the basics of broadcasting, writing, interviewing and editing.
Students from Manchester Youth Development Center were taught interviewing skills, then put those skills to the test at the 2026 NFL Draft.
Along the way, the students went into the community. They talked with visitors to the NFL Draft in April. They took a walking tour across the West End Bridge, highlighting areas where Riverlife is making plans to build the West End Bridge Connectors.
Students on the tour noticed that crossing the wide intersections near the West End Bridge can be intimidating, especially for children facing high-speed traffic. The West End Bridge Connectors project aims to create safer crossings in the West End and Manchester neighborhoods, along with accessible ramps and trails for people walking, biking, and rolling.
Perhaps most importantly, the students learned to ask questions of the people who want to see positive change in Pittsburgh.
Episode themes include a history of the Ohio River, public art & community, engineering the riverfront, and a panel discussion with Riverlife and its partners on the West End Bridge Connectors.
The podcast launched in June 2026 with a listening party at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild. Now it’s available for everyone to check out at the links below:
- Episode 1: Riverlife Panel Discussion
- Episode 2: Engineering The Riverfront, Part 1
- Episode 3: Engineering The Riverfront, Part 2
- Episode 4: Public Art & Community
- Episode 5: History of the River
- Episode 6: #Riverlife Archives
- Episode 7: What We Learned
- Episode 8: Extra Bits
Hear how these students engaged with Riverlife’s vision for the future of the West End Bridge, and what happens when students get a seat at the table and a microphone.
A huge thanks to Manchester Youth Development Center for their hard work. This project is a part of a four-year Creative Communities Initiative funded by Pennsylvania Creative Industries, powered by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Riverlife and Manchester Youth Development Center brought in students and parents for a podcast kickoff event in February 2026.
Gavin White, Riverlife’s Director of Planning and Projects, led students on a tour of the West End Bridge and areas around the bridge that will be improved by the West End Bridge Connectors project.
Students from Manchester Youth Development Center — pictured here with executive director Dennis Henderson and program manager Lauren Brown — learned a lot and had a lot of fun along the way.
