Immaculate Conception sixth graders working on school podcast

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Stay tuned to Channel 6 IC News for all the latest developments.

That’s a reminder a group of Immaculate Conception sixth-graders don’t want you to forget as podcasts come to the Charles City Catholic elementary school.

The students’ plan is to have the first official podcast production complete and ready for broadcast by next Friday on the school’s website and Facebook page.

Social media beware.

The podcast idea originated with new IC Principal Laurie Field.

Since the school year started, seven students were selected to a podcast leadership group. They’ve been finding time throughout the day during the school week to come up with different ideas for a podcast.

“I think their biggest challenge is that we run out of time,” said Field.

The eager students decided to form a news team with reporters and two anchors to broadcast their messages. Other subjects that students may touch on throughout the year are an update of what’s happening at IC and daily events that are taking place.

Opinion pieces and features focusing on leaders and role models within the school are other topics that have been suggested.

“We’re trying to fit this in with everything else they have going on between band and their classes,” said Field.

The seven participants have already produced a few podcasts — which are audio or video files that people can access online. The students posted their first podcast during homecoming week on the school’s Facebook page late last month, interviewing Charles City high school students and asked them questions such as who was their favorite teacher.

The seven students — Jase Anderson, Everett Schmitt, Payton Hadley, Mya Rimrod, Blake Hoeft, Koryn Osier and Danica Dejongoy — are in charge of the content and working together to produce the podcasts. The material has to be approved by teachers.

The students brushed up on their ability to record and edit video and audio by entering a $25,000 contest sponsored by Home Depot that will award one school upgrades to its facilities.

The students chose to focus on the older part of the IC building and its four bathrooms for their submitted entry. They videotaped what the process would be of remodeling the bathrooms and applied different themes such as an ocean to each bathroom. The students also said they could paint some of the floors with the money should they win, or fix ripped and cracked walls.

The deadline to enter the contest was Sept. 14. Fields said there may have been thousands of entries, and she has not heard back yet whether her IC school may have been the lucky winner.

“We haven’t heard, so we’re kind of thinking — we gave it a good shot,” said Field.

The focus for the IC students’ first official podcast will deal with drug awareness and the national Red Ribbon campaign which starts next week.

Red Ribbon Week helps raise awareness about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and the dangers that can be associated with those substances. Students at IC also dress up in costumes during Red Ribbon Week.

IC plans on presenting two podcasts a month, Field said. The IC development board donated a video camera and a microphone. The parent teacher organization at IC also donated a GoPro Camera that can be used for interviews.

Many of the students said they didn’t know what a podcast was before they started working on them. One student in the group said they may interview people at the middle school who are responsible for the meals there, then talk about different dining options.

The students made sure not to forget some comedy spots they may splice together in the near future. A reel of bloopers could well be on its way into production for one of the podcasts.

“We have tons of bloopers,” said several of the students in unison.