Last year, Christopher Leavens, an English language development teacher at Guadalupe Centers Middle School, approached KCUR Studio managing podcast producer Suzanne Hogan with an idea: What if they used podcasting to teach creative skills to his students?
Hogan jumped at the idea, and worked with Leavens and other KCUR staffers — including audience engagement strategist Zach Perez and KCUR Studios intern Jacob Smollen — to craft an immersive program for nine 6th graders over a 2.5 month period this spring.
Working in three groups, the students learned and deepened an array of skills: listening, brainstorming, drafting, editing, writing, recording, revising, editing and publishing original episodes of podcasts on topics of their choosing.
The team provided four hands-on sessions at the school, training the students on podcasting equipment and helping them through the process of creating each team's episode concepts.
They conducted an "audio scavenger hunt," Hogan said, that required finding and recording audio like background music, ambient sounds and other audio effects to enhance each production.
The students also interviewed each other and fellow students, collecting content and then winnowing it down through the editing process. They were invited to join KCUR's midday announcer Paul Nyakatura in the broadcasting booth to learn more about mixing and perfecting audio levels.
After researching, writing and recording their episodes, Leavens helped them with the editing process, and KCUR staff provided input, deadlines and feedback to the student teams along the way.
"Seeing their confidence grow over the course of the project was really cool," said Hogan. "They were so creative and it was really inspiring to watch."
At the end of the project, the students held a listening party at KCUR to premiere each episode. They included:
- "Middle School Feels," where they interviewed teachers and other adults, asking, "If you could go back to middle school, what would you be like?"
- "Taco Talk," which explored how tacos aren't just food but have memories and history behind them.
- "Kids' Worst Nightmares," which examined why kids like scary movies and why sometimes fear can also be funny.
After their presentation, the students received certificates of achievement and celebrated their efforts with cupcakes and some soccer in the park next door.
"I'm so proud of them," Hogan said. "They really worked hard together to put their ideas out to the world. That takes a lot of courage."
Leavens agreed, and said the whole process was remarkable.
"What stood out more than the finished products was the growth in the students' confidence and comfort in their own voices," Leavens said. "As middle schoolers, and especially English language learners, many of them often feel like they are always speaking through a filter, carefully choosing if and when to speak for fear of being wrong or judged.
"We got to see the kids' hesitation give way to confidence and personality and power. Students began taking risks, asking follow-up questions, and allowing themselves and their languages to come through in their recordings."
KCUR Studios has provided podcast trainings with other partners, including the Kansas City Art Institute, the podcast club at the Islamic School of Greater Kansas City, and the Mid-Continent Public Library.
Hogan says a key to success is a great teacher to champion their students, and who understands that podcasting teaches much more than storytelling.
"Podcasting incorporates so many skills: reading, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity and more. Whenever there are opportunities to do this kind of thing, we'll always make it a priority whenever possible. It's important and it's so much fun."
For more information about KCUR Studios and a list of KCUR's currently available podcasts, visit our website.
If you're an educator interested in bringing KCUR Studios into your classroom, email Suzanne Hogan at suzanne@kcur.org.
