Two podcasts tell the story of Elmhurst's York High School
Two new podcasts - one by students and the other by administrators - tell the behind-the-scenes story of the people and programs of York High School.
The inaugural "DukeCast" premiered in September, York High School's new podcast, which tells the story of the people and programs at York. "You can drive to work and listen to what's going on at York High School," said Principal Dr. Shahe Bagdasarian.
In addition, a student-created podcast, "In the Halls," debuted this year. The podcast is written and produced by students Nathan Lee, Jackson Small and Morgan Czarnecki. In the first episode, they discuss Homecoming and sit down with news site editor student Finnegan Belleau. In the second, they take a deep dive into the English language.
"We're trying to show the inside of York High School from the perspective of individuals in the school," said Nathan Lee. Check out their work at thisisyork.org/32090/showcase/ith0101/.
The first "DukeCast" episode features Dr. Bagdasarian's interview with Assistant Principal for Instruction Adam Roubitchek about York's Workplan, which outlines areas of focus for the year. In the second bimonthly podcast, Dr. Bagdasarian interviews Athletic Director Rob Wagner about fall sports, and Assistant Principal Drew McGuire interviews one of the student leads of the fall play "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time."
In two weeks, the podcast has had more than 400 downloads. To subscribe, head to the "DukeCast" webpage at thisisyork.podbean.comand click on "follow." The podcasts are also available on Spotify.
The postproduction student crew from the broadcasting class piece together the raw footage, add sound effects, voice-overs and music, and post it on the "DukeCast" Web page.
"The hours and hours of planning were worth it," said Roubitchek, who has been conducting podcasts on Cooperative Learning and Instructional Coaching for several years.
The "DukeCast" format will remain the same: the principal will interview a teacher, administrator or staff member about an event or initiative and then interview students about a club or project.
In related news, York TV was the recipient of a grant that allows them to create a more realistic and professional podcast. The $900 grant is from the Illinois Press Foundation and the Illinois Farm Bureau to purchase an updated podcasting station.
"This grant will allow students to have access to professional-grade podcasting equipment in order to not only learn the technical aspects of digital audio capture but also the necessary skills to effectively tell a story or convey a message via the medium of podcasting," said Brendan Chambers, English teacher and York TV (YTV) Director.
With the $900 grant, they will purchase a Rode Podcasting Station that includes a Mixing Board with built-in sound capture and two professional microphones and accessories.
"This is a big step in providing students with real-life, hands-on experience in the digital audio world," Chambers said.
Prior to this, the students were using Chromebooks and phones to capture audio.
The purchase furthers the goal of a unified experience for all journalism students as podcasting is the biggest overlap between video and copy journalism, allowing students from all classes to utilize the equipment as another means to tell the stories of our wonderful school community as well as reach audiences in new ways, he said.