To elaborate on experiences of their freshman year, freshman students in Mr. Matthew Laporte and Mr. Michael Moore’s English classes have started a unit on podcasting and research. 

Before starting the project, students had the opportunity to practice by recording a sample podcast about a topic of their choosing like music, travel and movies. Those podcasts were then listened to as a class to identify strengths and weaknesses.

“When I heard myself talk, it was definitely weird as first,” freshman Wintana Abrega said. “When I heard everyone else’s practice podcast though, I wasn’t as embarrassed.”

With creative freedom being a part of the project, students have to find a topic that is relatable to their own lives that is practical enough to research for an essay and produce 10-minute podcast.

“I wanted to pick friendships as my topic because personally, I have experienced losing close friendships and bonds since I went to high school,” Abrega said. “It’ll be easier for me to express my opinion on a topic I am familiar with.”

Before submitting their final product, each group will have to write, script, and edit their portion of the podcast. Once every group is done, the shorts acts are going to be merged into one full episode, similar to “This American Life”.

“I hope that self-evaluation is something that the students will benefit from this,” Moore said. “I don’t think people reflect on themselves enough, so I added exploratory research to the project as well.”

As a part of the semester final, Moore wants his students to learn the process about going through editing while having a secure plan and how this activity can impact them.

“With this being part of our semester exam, I want my team to do really well and have motivation to do the project,” freshman Tanya Martinez said. “I want to interview other students so we can have primary sources about their opinions.”

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