In this episode, we are joined by Amanda Ipock, who is Librarian for an elementary school within the Renton School District in Washington state. Amanda worked with her elementary students to produce and broadcast a weekly school-wide video podcast. Amanda shares her journey, what she learned along the way, and how this work has positively impacted the students and the school culture. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.
In this episode, we are joined by Amanda Ipock, who is Librarian for an elementary school within the Renton School District in Washington state. Amanda worked with her elementary students to produce and broadcast a weekly school-wide video podcast. Amanda shares her journey, what she learned along the way, and how this work has positively impacted the students and the school culture. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.
#260 — Student Podcasting, with Amanda Ipock
Time: 38:46
Owner: AVID Open Access
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
kids, students, podcast, school, community, segment, love, rena, share, amanda, library, pretty, record, feel, toolkit, people, podcasting, script, librarian, sturdy
SPEAKERS
Amanda (53%), Rena (20%), Winston (16%), Paul (10%), Transition (1%)
Amanda Ipock 0:00
I started the podcast with our student leadership team at my previous school, Lakeridge. Once we started doing it, it just opened up a world of possibilities. My students learned so much about their voice and the way they spoke to an audience.
Rena Clark 0:17
The topic for today's podcast is Student Podcasting with Amanda Ipock. Unpacking Education is brought to you by avid.org. AVID believes school is the center of every community. To learn more about AVID, visit their website at avid.org. Welcome to Unpacking Education, the podcast where we explore current issues and best practices in education. I'm Rena Clark.
Paul Beckermann 0:46
I'm Paul Beckermann.
Winston Benjamin 0:48
And I'm Winston Benjamin. We are educators.
Paul Beckermann 0:51
And we're here to share insights and actionable strategies.
Transition Music 0:56
Education is our passport to the future.
Rena Clark 1:01
Our quote for today is from Sarah Koenig, host of the podcast Serial. "They say podcasting is a medium that allows anyone to share their voice and their message with the world, and it's changing the way we consume and create content." All right, team, what do you think?
Paul Beckermann 1:22
Well, the part that's really sticking out to me is the sharing their voice because to me, podcasting is a little bit different from other forms of expression. You know, we can create a website, a presentation, or an infographic, but a podcast is different. You know, those are visual media, and podcasting leverages audio, and gives students an opportunity to actually share their real voices, not just figuratively. We get to hear them speak, and we get to hear their emotion in their voice and the conviction of their message. I think that just takes speaker voice to a whole nother level. I love that.
Winston Benjamin 1:59
I hear that. I'm going to somewhat add on to what you're saying, Paul, and the part that stuck out to me was... anyone? And it kind of reminds me of Gorilla broadcasting. If you listen to the radio, like all those old school, like, against the grain music or information sources, I think with this, the limitation of funds isn't the thing that prevents people from engaging with it, right? You can just grab your phone, and just talk, right? So there's a way that allows anyone and, literally anyone, to put their information out there. And I think that changes the conversation because then their voices become as powerful and elevated as those with the quote unquote, structures behind them. So, I love the idea that anyone can have access to sharing their voice.
Rena Clark 2:50
Anyone and on anything. I don't know. Recently, what was it? There's like a radio commercial, and they're like, there's a podcast for that. And there really truly is. Like, I feel like you can think of anything. And there's the podcast, and you can talk about anything. And it's amazing, just the access that is now available. But I am excited to welcome Amanda Ipock to the show today. Amanda is one of our amazing elementary librarians in the Renton School District at Hilltop Elementary, and I've had the privilege to be able to work with Amanda. She's an exceptional librarian. So just so glad to have you on the show today.
Amanda Ipock 3:32
Oh, thank you so much. I'm so glad to be here.
Rena Clark 3:35
And I'm just hoping if you would like to just take a minute to tell our listeners a little bit more about yourself and kind of what you do.
Amanda Ipock 3:43
Sure. Yeah, so I am a teacher originally. Taught fourth and fifth grade for eight years before moving into the library where I've really found my home. It's definitely my happy place. I'm now at my third school where I've worked as librarian. And at each school, I feel like I've learned so much about how to make libraries so equitable and give access to kids and give students opportunities to do all sorts of things. But tech is a real passion of mine, so I've been trying to incorporate a lot of technology into the ways that students access information and share their learning. So I am starting a brand new library this year, that Hilltop just opened this year. And this is our first year of students in this building, a brand new school. And it's been a super cool opportunity to build community and just really make this library space something that our kids love and are really proud of and are excited about.
Rena Clark 4:49
That's such a great opportunity when you're starting a new building. So we're gonna tap into a little bit of knowledge this year and I know we're gonna get started with some questions just because I had the privilege of working on doing some podcasting with students with you last year.
Amanda Ipock 5:03
Yeah, yeah, it was super awesome. Last year, I started the podcast with our student leadership team at my previous school, Lakeridge. And we were working with fourth and fifth graders and just trying to find a way for them to share their voice and be leaders in the school. And the podcast really started as a way for us to have the kids come together and share information and kind of build a schoolwide communication platform. And what started as something pretty small, turned into something that I felt like by the end of the year, all the kids were just clamoring over, like, when is the podcast coming out? And who's going to be on it? And what's the segment this week? So it's been pretty special. And a project I'm definitely going to start at my new school this coming school year.
Paul Beckermann 5:57
That is so cool. I love that you took it community-wide like that. That's just so empowering for kids to have that authentic audience. I'm kind of curious, you know, when you started, if there were, or actually when you finished, were there goals that you achieved that you hadn't even thought of, you know, before you started?
Amanda Ipock 6:16
Oh, for sure. So when we first started the podcast, it was actually like a live, I don't know, like videocast. Like everyone logged into the Zoom. And they made an announcement, like make sure teachers join the the podcast. But that was kind of, it was very cumbersome, right? Because everything we recorded was happening right there live with the kids, the entire school watching. So there was no editing. And also, we were pretty limited on what we could film if we had just this, you know, live segment happening. So it started off as like a 10 minute Zoom with the school. And then it morphed into something that was recorded in segments over the course of the week. And then compiled and edited by me and the students and WeVideo. And by the end of the year, we just had something that we were really proud of, and segments that were sort of inspired by the kids' interests. So it started just being kind of like a news broadcast, like the lunch menu and kind of just events that were happening around the school. And then we had a segment that we started called, "Who's that Whale?" because we were the Orcas. And we brought on different staff throughout the school for interviews. And our kids just absolutely loved interviewing staff, and liked asking them questions and coming up with interview questions and getting to know them. And so then from that, we started a segment called "The Young and the Talented." And it was a segment about the kids showcasing their talents. So the kids came on the podcast, and they showed different talents that they had and talked about how they got into these skills. So what started as news really became like getting to know the community. And so I think that was just a goal I didn't really understand would be a part of it. But by the end, we really had this thing that felt like everyone had bought in, and teachers were sold and kids were sold. And this was just a really special part of our week.
Paul Beckermann 8:25
Very cool.
Winston Benjamin 8:26
it sounds like a lot of fun, and you had a lot of fun doing it. That's what learning is in the best way. So I have a couple of questions. And it's gonna be about structure. It seems like, as you were saying, some of the structure developed over time. But what I want to know is including our podcasts, we have a rigid structure: quote, questions, and then "One Thing." All those things. So how did you decide on the structure with your kids? Was it just something that you were like, All right, let me keep it in the frames or did you allow your students' voice to help you develop what the specific structure was going to look like? And how things progressed?
Amanda Ipock 9:06
Yeah, sure. So what we started with was sort of just like me trying to figure out a way to get the kids to be able to present in a natural way without reading something. So we had a script that was up on the big Promethean board behind where they were seated for the filming. And then they read the script as we were filming. So I kind of created the script to start and just gave them some pretty like basic segments, like an intro, and then our lunch menu for the week, important events, our character trait we were working on as a school, and then just like some sort of fun fact and a joke, and that was pretty much it. And when we were just video recording.
Winston Benjamin 9:22
Bad jokes or any kind of jokes?
Amanda Ipock 9:37
They were terrible. The worst jokes. Luckily, we were in the library, and we had joke books. So I started putting out joke books and like made them, but yeah, they were so bad. But yeah, so that was sort of like the beginning framework. And then we started adding in segments. And then when I finally reached out to Rena, it was because we were trying to do so much live, and then it got really hard to record everything live. And so when Rena came to meet with us, she gave me some feedback on how we could just start recording and putting it in video and honestly, I was a little, little bit of pushback at first, because I was like, I don't have time during my week to like, do all this editing also, right? Because if it's just live, you just record it, or you know, do this session, and it's done. But man, once we started doing it, it just opened up a world of possibility. So we added a whole lot more to the segments, and what we were able to do. And the segments really did come from the students because they would say, like, I want to come on and sing a song or, you know, so in order to do that we, you know, started this segment of, you know, "The Young and the Talented" so that we had that as a thing. And the structure did sort of evolve. The kids still read a script when we recorded, but they also did a lot more. It took more autonomy in developing their own questions. And like they were real advocates for what they wanted to see more of, and that podcast team became super close-knit. It was about 12 students, and they were very committed to their work as podcasters.
Rena Clark 9:50
Just that identity. I got to meet with them a few times, and first of all, they were adorable, and they were so excited about it, but just that identity of "We are podcasters." And really they're video-casters, which was really cool, gaining some skills. And as you mentioned, there are a few like technical pieces that came into play. So when it came time to record the podcast, just to share with the audience, what kind of are those basic resources that you might need in order to make this happen with students? Starting with yeah, we just had Zoom, and that could work, but what might be some basic resources that you would need to get started?
Amanda Ipock 12:33
I mean, we did get a green screen by the end, so that was kind of cool, but not not necessarily necessary. You know, we worked without it for a long time. The microphone made a huge difference. I had a couple kids that were sort of soft spoken. And so that was really nice to have a mic that was wired in, because for a while we didn't. And then that actually was most of what we used. We recorded on the computer. We used a pretty middle-of-the-road microphone, and a green screen a little bit, but that was pretty much it.
Rena Clark 13:12
Yeah, it's amazing what you can do I feel like anymore. Even in the quote, and if you're even making video, just like a few little resources, you can do a lot with it.
Amanda Ipock 13:23
Yeah, for sure. They also just loved having props. Like, we had like a real fancy-looking microphone that, you know, like gold and shiny. They loved that. They liked having like silly hats sometimes, you know, things like that. It just made it fun.
Paul Beckermann 13:40
You know, to me, a podcast like this, or videocast, this is the definition of authentic learning, right? Because there's a true audience at the end. There's a real purpose for it. And you talked about, you know, you doing multiple episodes. So you're iterating over and over and over again. I'm curious, like, what are the things that you and your students learned as you engage through that iteration over and over again?
Amanda Ipock 14:08
Yeah, I mean, my students learned so much about their voice and the way they spoke to an audience, and that was huge, because at first, it was just like, you know, very, like monotone reading from a script. And so we really coached the kids on putting some, you know, like, character into their voice and like, just being their authentic selves, as they were, you know, reading the script. But also, they they really started to just kind of talk off the cuff, which I feel like is just such a life skill to be able to just engage with conversations, especially when they're interviewing like adults and peers about their talents and just saying what they're naturally curious about with those, you know, with their students. And so that was really cool. I think also students and I, we learned about sort of the power of something that everyone sees in a school community. Because, you know, we have assemblies every now and then. But to have something that everyone can talk about, like, did you see this teacher on the podcast this week? And having that power of like bringing people together and seeing something as an entire school community, it was pretty huge. And so for me, it was a learning opportunity in, like, how to build community.
Paul Beckermann 15:36
That's cool. And I don't want to put you on the spot, but I know how this goes. I used to do the TV news at my school, too. Any fail forward moments?
Amanda Ipock 15:48
There were a couple of gymnastic routines that almost went way south. Yeah, I mean, also, I learned that I really did need to, like do a little bit of a try-out before some of like the singing performances. We'd also have to do some practice runs with things like, we got a crew of kids that wanted to come on and get sturdy on the podcast.. And we're like, cool, get sturdy. Like let's do it. So we got some beats, and they came on, and they're getting sturdy, and, and then everyone in the school wanted to. And it became like this, like get sturdy competition. And so then it was kind of intense on me to like, get everybody on the show. So for me, as I'm thinking about my next podcast that I'm starting here, I'm really gonna be super mindful about how we get on the show, you know.
Winston Benjamin 16:45
No battle of the bands?
Amanda Ipock 16:47
That's sort of how it went. It was amazing though. The end of the school year, our podcast was so great. I invited any staff to come to the library and just record a quick segment saying like farewell to our students, and like an end-of-year message or something like that. And we had a group of second grade teachers that came in and got sturdy, and they were just like, the most awkward, ridiculous dancing, and the kids just absolutely loved it.
Paul Beckermann 17:19
They will never forget that.
Amanda Ipock 17:21
Yeah, it was pretty cool.
Winston Benjamin 17:22
So, man, it's beautiful, the way you're describing the creation of school culture and school community, right? The value of each other. Like the teachers caring enough about what the students are talking and doing that they actually come and participate in a genuine way. I love that, that real, genuine, authentic culture and community of care. One of the things that we always, as in education, you can't just say it's good, because look--culture, school culture. The value of community. So I'm going to try to frame it in the educational way. If you could describe or let us know what any of the benefits both academically and socially, for the students who got engaged with the podcast, right? With the process, the whole thing, from beginning to the end, to the iterations of episodes to the tryouts, right? What are some of the benefits, academically and socially, that you saw for your kids?
Amanda Ipock 18:21
Yeah, so it was pretty huge to see students feel like a valued member of the community when they showcase what they can do outside of academics. So, I think for a lot of kids, they don't necessarily see themselves in reading or math, but they see themselves in music or in dance. And so, when you feel connected to your school community, because something about you is valued, then, you know, it's empowering in the educational setting, also. And I saw that with a lot of kids that were struggling with behaviors. That they were able to, like, really show something they could do. Like, here's an example. We had a second grader who just had a lot of struggle with emotional regulation. And she was hardly ever in the classroom, you know? It was just like, so tough for her to regulate in this space. So one day, she was kind of hanging in the library with me, and we were trying to practice some breathing and working on some emotional regulation skills. And she said something like, well, we should do this on the podcast, you know, because she watches it and she likes it. And I said, Let's do it! I just like hit record. And she led this whole, like breathing exercise. And it was this beautiful recording of this kid who was generally seen by our school community as someone who really struggled and then she's on the show, like teaching how to regulate and showing like the best parts of herself. And it's super powerful to see like, you know, in a different space or with the right supports, like how we can empower kids. So that was huge. And I really did try to get some of our students who struggled to be able to come on the show because they feel like it just was such a moment for them. Also, for my podcast team, they really saw themselves as leaders. And some of them, I mean, they would talk all the time about how they wanted to be newscasters when they grow up. And I think that those experiences of being leaders and speaking with their powerful voice and showing like themselves in their, you know, their most sort of developed language and communication skills, like I think it really will translate into how they see themselves as leaders in the world, at least I hope so. Yeah, and then academically, I think that it was a powerful tool for us to teach social-emotional skills schoolwide. So we did a big focus on our SEL skills, on problem-solving. We had kids bring problems in, and then we talked about ways to solve problems on the podcast, which was super cool. I mean, the value felt huge to me. And I think the more you do it, too, the more that it grows into something that the school kind of expects in the culture. And so , there's just so many opportunities for different ways that it can help kids grow.
Winston Benjamin 20:58
I really appreciate the fact that you showed how, by having a student who is disregulated by the people and the place of school and of classroom, once they are validated, a truth, a piece of them are validated. They become more engaged in the learning space. So that, I think sometimes we want to quantify based on a number on the test score, but the number of minutes inside a classroom, the number of times not in trouble, the other adults believing in your capacity academically, that goes beyond anything. So I appreciate you sharing that part. And I just want to highlight how academically just being in the classroom is so much stronger than anything else that we talk about. So I just really wanted to say that piece.
Rena Clark 22:35
And I know Paul already said that this is the authenticity, because kids are constantly saying what's the purpose? And just making real connections with our school community. And then as you said, maybe connecting it to a career or they can really see themselves doing something and it mattering. Just that ability to visualize the future is really powerful, I think.
Amanda Ipock 22:56
Yeah, for sure. We talked about wanting to take the students on a field trip. It didn't happen, but like for them to really see like where this can go, right? So, it starts with like an elementary school. I'm in fourth grade, and I like come to the library for 30 minutes a week. But like, those are the little moments we know that like stick with kids and help to define like how they see themselves.
Rena Clark 23:24
So this next question actually works perfectly, because it's almost like you're giving it to yourself as well. As you said, you're in a new building, and you have this opportunity to start again and start the process and you've learned some lessons. So if you were to give advice to other librarians or educators or even yourself, who are trying to start either podcasting or videocasting with their students, what would you tell them?
Amanda Ipock 23:50
Yeah, man. I would say just take it slow at first, so you're not biting off more than more than you can chew. But also, I think for me, it's having like really clear boundaries around what is expected of students in the planning and in their participation. Because like, with my podcast team, specifically, I just was really clear with them. Like, we don't have time for anything other than recording and doing business. And so it just was not a time to play. It was a time to come in and be serious about the work. And that made a huge difference because they really wanted to do it. And if they weren't, and there were a couple of kids that struggled, and a couple of times I said, you know what? You need to head back to class. You can try again next week. Because, you know, it had to be something that you were committed to and ready to do. Do your best as a leader and we really positioned kids as leaders. And it was a privilege because there were many, many kids that wanted to do it. So, the engagement of the rest of the school was important because we really limited the amount of kids that were actually on our podcast recording team. For me, my advice to myself as I move forward is, as I do engage this school community, which is a bigger school, too, I am going to be very structured in the ways that we invite people on, and then also kind of how we roll things out, and just taking it in chunks. So we did a weekly podcast last year, which was really amazing. And they all loved it and waited for it. But when we first start this year, we're probably going to do every other week and just take it slow so that it's manageable for me and for the students. And, you know, I think you can really build it over time. So if you start with like a simple framework and a simple script, the kids start to get comfortable with it, and then add on as you go. And adding the segments over time kept it interesting to the school, too. But it definitely helped me to kind of wrap my head around it. Yeah, I think that's what I got.
Rena Clark 26:08
And then I was just curious--was your podcast or videocast ever shared beyond the school walls with like, families, parents, newsletters, school community?
Amanda Ipock 26:18
You know, I really wanted to, and that would be a step moving forward, too. I think one of the limitations was, and it's possible, but one of the limitations was getting, you know, the photo and video release for the kids that are in the show. And since I didn't have that, and I did have a couple kids on my team that weren't photo-video-released, I never did. Except for if I had a kid that came on to do a talent, I would share with the family so they could see their kid do the thing. When we were live, if there was a kid that came on the show, I would share the link so they could join. But no, we didn't share out to families. I think it could be so cool to do that. So that is, you know, I'm actually glad you said that, because I'll be mindful of that as I choose my next team. Maybe just making sure that that is okay with families if they're shared, because I think that that could be such a great way to engage families in what our school looks like, things that we're doing.
Paul Beckermann 27:25
Awesome. That sounds like something that actually could be a suggestion for a toolkit. So in that light, let's hop into our toolkit.
Transition Music 27:34
Check it out, check it out. Check it out. Check it out. What's in the toolkit? What is in the toolkit? So, what's in the toolkit? Check it out.
Paul Beckermann 27:45
All right, Winston, toolkit item. What do you got?
Winston Benjamin 27:50
Amanda mentioned this early and it was WeEdits [WeVideo]. Because again, like how the heck are you gonna put this thing together in video, or you could use Apple edits, tools, or anything of that sort because it's free, it's not expensive. If you have a MacBook, you already have the editing software. So I think just starting off small and using that as a way of engaging with students will be a good thing.
Paul Beckermann 28:13
Free is good.
Winston Benjamin 28:15
Free is great.
Paul Beckermann 28:15
What's your what's your saying, Winston? Free 99? I love that.
Rena Clark 28:23
I was using that the other day. I went Free 99. Yeah, there's lots of different things that you can figure out how to use with students, and usually different districts maybe buy into different things. So just find the one that's gonna work for you. I have to have two things. We've talked a lot about AI recently, but I was even thinking how, with the correct prompting and stuff, how ChatGPT or Magic School AI, whatever, you could really create just the outline of the script or talk about what you were hoping to accomplish. And then you could use that to really help with your script writing, or at least kind of the segment ideas. That can be really powerful. But I think another big thing in your toolkit is our people. So yes, Amanda is awesome but getting other people, getting other teachers involved, people to be interviewed, the students, and then if you have a few more people. I love the point, just like don't take it all on yourself. Go slow, but people is something you need.
Paul Beckermann 29:24
I'm going to build off of Winston's a little bit. You talked about some editing software for video. There's a really good one for audio and it's freemium. So it's kind of Free 99, Winston. It's free, unless you want to upgrade. But it's Soundtrap, and I like it because--now this is just audio, so if you're doing video, it's not going to help you--but if you just want to do audio, it's great and it's online. So if you have an iPad or a Chromebook, it works. You don't have to install anything. The free version really has everything you need to do most projects. You can record. You can edit multiple tracks. It's even got, like some samples in it. I think there's over 5,000 loops just in the free version, so you can spice up your program, you know, with music and transitions and things like that. And there's even a podcasting feature where you can send an email to somebody, and you can interview a guest through the Soundtrap interface. So it's just kind of a great tool, if you're looking for something cheap, with fairly significant power. All right, Amanda, we're gonna invite you to join us, too. Do you have something you'd like to drop in the toolkit?
Amanda Ipock 30:34
Sure. I was thinking about how one of the pieces that worked so well for me was that I had a super supportive admin at both of my schools, in regards to podcast, but I also just was blindly bold and asking for what I needed. And so I think that level of like advocating for what you're doing is huge. And I asked for, you know, funding to buy some equipment and some funding for, like, some time with the kids. And my principal's, like, sure, I'm so happy you're doing it. I'll find the funds, and you send me a list of what you need. And it was pretty huge. And I think a lot of times, we don't ask because we assume that there's no money. But a lot of times there is, especially for things like this, that are community builders, and sometimes principals have pockets of money set aside that they don't actually know what to use this for. So just asking never hurts. And also, if not your principal budget, there's a lot of grants that even like come out in our district to ask for extra support.
Paul Beckermann 31:46
I'm gonna hop on that just for a second because I think that's super important. And I will say, from my experience, the more detailed of a plan you have when you ask, the better your chances are of getting it. If somebody sees that you have it really well thought through, you've got a pretty, pretty good chance of getting it because principals do want to help. They want to support you when they can.
Amanda Ipock 32:07
Yeah, and then, you know, if not your principal level, like going beyond and asking like district tech. Can we buy this thing? And generally, if you keep asking, I think you'll get what you need.
Winston Benjamin 32:21
Oh, I appreciate that toolkit, because that reminds me of a phrase my dad used to always say to me: a closed mouth never gets fed. Right? So asking and opening your mouth, you may get something. So that just reminds me of this next segment. The one thing! What's that one thing that's still running around in your brain and you're trying to think about?
Transition Music 32:42
It's time for that one thing. One thing. One thing. Time for that one thing. It's that one thing.
Winston Benjamin 32:54
What's the one thing? So I'll start with Rena. What's your one thing?
Rena Clark 33:01
I can't get the whole idea of getting sturdy with it, but I love the idea. Yeah, the power of something for everyone. And it might be the power of, you know, everyone getting sturdy with it. But the power of something for everyone. So the power of it being for students, but also connecting students with staff and then connecting to community. And everyone has this larger connector, little to young, and we could go on the playground and be talking about that same thing. And it's connecting. And it's all student-created. So, it's created from ourselves. So I just am really thinking about that, and how that can be utilized in so many different communities and areas.
Winston Benjamin 33:47
I love that. Paul, I'm gonna throw it to you.
Paul Beckermann 33:51
I am going to just piggyback right off that, Rena, because I think we underestimate how a common story can build community. You know, a lot of times students are in their own separate classes or different grades, and they don't have a lot of things in common schoolwide, other than maybe a sports team or something like that. But having some kind of a broadcast that is for the school, all of a sudden now, you have this common story that everybody has. And it makes me think of Hamilton. Who's going to tell your story? Well, if the students tell the story, they're not only telling the story, they're building the culture of the school through those stories. It's a huge way that we can leverage that and it's so powerful to bring people together. I just love that.
Winston Benjamin 34:38
And before I kick it to Amanda, I'm going to jump in and actually extend that, your point as well, Paul. The changing the narrative I think is so important in not only telling your story, but also being able to help flush out the full story that some people may miss. Because they're seeing you not at your best, but sometimes trying to figure out a way to get to your best. So I really appreciate that conversation about how that young lady was able to find value in herself by the other people in the community finding value in her. So I think with that part, it's really important to me. Remember to that--we can find the value in our students, and that can turn to academic success. Um, Amanda, thank you for putting that last piece in my head because that's a great thing I want to walk away with. I'm going to ask you, what's one thing that you're still running around in your mind?
Amanda Ipock 35:35
You know, if I'm being like, totally honest, it's starting the podcast at this new school is one more thing. And so I am running around with this a lot, because I know it's, you know, it's extra. And I do it because of the value that it has. And I saw the ways that it empowered so many students and really added to the, you know, positivity to a school culture that was struggling in a way. And so I just saw the power of it. And so when you see how kids connect to the bigger story, like you were saying, Paul, and feel more a part of something, and show what is beautiful, when a lot is kind of messy, you're kind of showcasing the best parts of people and the school and what we could be at our best, you know. And I loved it so much. To share that last podcast of the year, it was really powerful for me, especially leaving a school that was beloved to me. And on my last episode, I was like giving the kids like a message of love from me. And when I did, I really got teared up and all the kids were like, Miss Ipock, your message was so sad. But I felt so much power in speaking to the whole community together. And I think there's just a lot in that, in the ways that we can communicate with the bigger audience and to know everyone saw the same thing. And that's, that's how people come together, I think.
Rena Clark 37:22
I love that. And you can tell, I feel like it will come through on the podcast and just that your love for kids and your value around them as humans and the school culture. So the new school is lucky to have you, so I'm really excited about what's going to happen there. And I feel lucky I get your podcasts. Yeah, it can be maybe something that can help help out. But I just want to thank you again for taking time out of your day to come talk with us. We really enjoy having you on.
Amanda Ipock 37:57
My pleasure.
Rena Clark 37:59
We'll have to follow up and maybe, maybe hear how those kids' podcast turns out. Yes.
Amanda Ipock 38:03
Yes! Sounds great. I'd love to have you at Hilltop.
Rena Clark 38:07
All right. Y'all have a good night.
Amanda Ipock 38:09
Thank you.
Rena Clark 38:13
Thanks for listening to Unpacking Education.
Winston Benjamin 38:16
We invite you to visit us at AvidOpenAccess.org, where you can discover resources to support student agency, equity and academic tenacity to create a classroom for future-ready learners.
Paul Beckermann 38:31
We'll be back here next Wednesday for a fresh episode of Unpacking Education.
Rena Clark 38:35
And remember, go forth and be awesome.
Winston Benjamin 38:39
Thank you for all you do.
Paul Beckermann 38:40
You make a difference.