This year, instructional coach Mike Baker and head principal Andrew Neely used federal grant money to purchase podcasting equipment housed in the library. Students have used this equipment for Genius Hour projects, English projects and journalism purposes. 

Baker believes the podcasting equipment is high tech that can make student podcasting better.  

“Baker and Neely were fortunate enough to get a grant to bring in some high tech, podcast equipment that really can kind of step up the game for students in high school,”  transition coordinator Jarrod Prugar said. 

The podcasting equipment can do different things such as patching in calls, sound effects and more.

“Say we’re on a podcast, I can patch in a call from outside the Bluetooth or run it through my computer. Different things like that really make it  a lot more fancy to what you want to get out of podcasting equipment and really take things to another level for students who want to learn more about it and have fun with it,” Prugar said.

The equipment allows for audio that can be easily understood.

“It is easy to use. We don’t have to worry about explaining anything to the guests of each episode. It is easy to just turn  on and start recording. Also, if we would make a mistake or something would happen, we are able to pause and start it again or whenever we need,” freshman Miley Naugle said. 

When using the podcasting equipment students have to make sure everyone can be heard. 

“When we first turn it on, we all have to speak one at a time, and I have to adjust the volume so that each person can be heard and no one is too loud or too quiet. However, once we get it adjusted, we don’t have to do anything else, and we can get started,” Naugle said. 

The podcasting equipment also has cameras for video podcasts. 

“We use the video equipment for the Genius Hour video that Mr. Neely and I made with special guests,” Baker said. 

The podcasting equipment was bought for Genius Hour due to the growing interests in podcasts and influencers. 

“A big part of it was Genius Hour because we felt that some students would want to do a podcast as a product for the Genius Hour project. The ability to be able to record both audio and video in an easy way we thought was a good way to get students interested in that and exploring that path,” Baker said. 

Students use the podcasting equipment for several reasons. 

“We use it typically on Genius Hour days and then students go in through Mountain Echo and some other things within the school, but we have students that come in and take part of the Genius Hour and mentor days,” Prugar said. 

The Mountain Echo has several podcasts they use the equipment for. 

“One of the girls and I have a sports podcast called ‘From the Locker Room’ that can be found on the Mountain Echo. Two of my classmates started the podcast earlier this year; however, they did not have time to continue it. They asked me if I would want to take over, and I gladly accepted,” Naugle said.  

Several groups went in to use the equipment for an English project on a book they were reading. 

“Students in Mrs. [Tabitha] Quinn’s class also did a podcast; that was an option they had. I had four or five groups from Quinn’s English class come in to record podcasts for a project. Those were all about Macbeth,” Baker said. 

Students look forward to using the podcast equipment. 

“I am starting a podcast called  ‘Let’s Talk About It,’ for my project. I’m so excited to talk with passionate people about various topics. I’m excited to go in depth and think outside of the box. I want to talk about things like political, social and worldwide issues, fun and engaging topics. I want to talk about conspiracy theories at some point also,” junior Morgan Stellabotte said. 

Stellabotte plans on continuing to do podcasts after high school as a way to make money. 

“I will be going to college, so that will take up the majority of my time, but I would do it as a hobby or a side job to make profit while I’ll be in college,” Stellabotte said. 

Naugle wants to pass the podcast down whenever she graduates. 

“I want to continue the podcast the whole time I am here. I work with a junior, therefore in my junior year I won’t have anyone to work with. I would like to work with a freshman and teach them how to use the equipment. I think allowing a freshman to work on the podcast would be good because they would be able to follow through with it for the rest of their high school career,” Naugle said. 

Baker or Prugar sit with the students as they create their podcasts to help the students create quality content. 

“Mr. Baker and I are in there, trying to teach students how to not only just use the equipment, but also format for podcasts and make sure that the content that they’re reading is appropriate and really start learning about the art of podcasting as a whole. We have it, and it’s available. There’s more talks to get more people involved with it, which is always cool,” Prugar said. 

When students are preparing for a podcast, they have to make a script. 

“You have a great podcast but really there’s some planning that goes into it. So the teaching and learning aspect is, how you organize the podcast, how long your segments should be, how long the podcast should be overall, that’s the teaching equipment is really simple. It’s literally like hitting the record button, and it works,” Baker said.

Prugar has hopes of a podcasting class becoming available to students.

“Maybe that is a possibility down the road to have classes dedicated to podcasting. It’s neat to see the creativity of some of the students because we have teachers and students that are podcasting. Mr. [James] Krug has a podcast, and I myself have had a few podcasts that I’ve been on. Now that students are kind of getting involved and things like that they have a lot of great ideas,” Prugar said.