The media broadcast students at Wylie West Junior High want more than for their fellow classmates to just get by at school – they want them to thrive. To do this, they created a podcast series called Thrive and Survive that focuses on helping junior high students with topics that can often be a challenge at their age and even beyond.
Topics covered have ranged from thriving in fine arts and sports to spirit days and academics. There is even a podcast that gives the opportunity for students to send in dilemmas about relationships, called Love Letters to Laney. Eighth grader Laney Morris, who pitched the idea to her classmates, said her classmates were a little skeptical at first.
“It wasn’t too popular at first, but then once I explained it more, the class got on board,” says Morris. According to Morris, the first episode was nerve-racking to produce since students would be submitting topics through Google Forms, but she was impressed with the topics her fellow students submitted and pleased with the response from students and teachers after it aired.
“I was nervous…we covered some good topics, and it was fun to see the responses we had from students. We even had some football coaches listen.”
Morris’ inspiration for the podcast series came from the Kidd Kraddick radio show’s “Love Letters to Kellie.” Something her broadcast teacher Ann Hurst also felt would be a good format to achieve the goal of her students.
“We want to create authentic projects that cultivate our campus culture, but also connect with students at Wylie West and beyond,” said Hurst.
The broadcast class, which is in its third year at West Junior High, was developed from Hurst’s advanced English class. Hurst says she kept hearing from new students from other districts that morning announcements were broadcasted by students on the smartboard in class, something she felt could be done on their campus.
Over the past three years, students in the class have produced morning announcements and public service announcements (PSA) with the most recent being about Red Ribbon Week. Last year, they reproduced the PSA “Hear Something, See Something, Say Something,” making the message of reporting worrisome activities on campus more relevant for Wylie West Junior High students since it was their peers.
Hurst says the students do it all: researching, writing scripts, creating graphics, acting, filming, and editing. Across the board, the broadcast students expressed how the opportunity to be in this class has challenged them and developed new skills.
Cooper Penney said not only has he grown in his knowledge of broadcasting, but also enjoys it because it is what his family does. His dad, Andrew Penney, is one of the online/radio commentators for Wylie Athletics. “When my dad is working on something at home, I can relate to what he is doing, which is a lot of fun.”
By Kristen Johnson
Photos Courtesy of Ann Hurst