Over the last two completed school years (2022-2024), Olney Culture Lab piloted a podcast creation program at Olney High School with the generous support from The Philadelphia Foundation’s Fund for Children.

In collaboration with our partner Motivos Magazine, the goal of the program was to empower the voices of participating students and to explore the tools and techniques of digital audio storytelling, introducing them to a platform to express their interests, concerns and ideas.

Each semester was comprised of a series of 12-sessions that covered recording techniques, interview skills, team building and decision-making and script construction and editing.

The program was also envisioned as a means of exposing students to a possible career pathway. Each student cohort that we worked with had the opportunity to visit Philly-based mediamaking resources and facilities and engage with content creators in the podcasting medium.

We are grateful for our partners at the high school for welcoming us into their community:

Joseph DeSantis, 11^th grade English teacher; Principal Michael Roth; Alexandra Jensky, Graphic Design; all the other school staff who participated in supporting and being featured in the podcast episodes.

Special thanks to our intrepid Sound Designer June Lopez for making the students shine, and to Angie Pabon at Philadelphia Foundation for asking us to lean into our neighborhood high school during a time of change and transition.