Starting in January, the El Dorado School district will have a new communication method.
Chelsey Turner, librarian and parent involvement coordinator at Washington Middle School, has taken charge of a new project that will release podcasts.
“Mr. (Jim) Tucker had this idea and kind of threw it out at a (personnel policy committee) meeting,” Turner said. “I jumped on board right away.”
At Monday’s meeting, Turner gave a report to the school board, saying that three podcasts have been recorded and edited. The topics for those already done include the El Dorado Promise, student behavior and the standards-based reporting grading system, which will end up being a two-part episode. She said other topics being discussed include the state grading system and Stories From My Classroom.
The topics are based on a survey sent out to teachers of the district asking what they’re interested in hearing about. Since the survey was sent out, Turner said, a committee of teachers has been formed to go over topics and help produce the podcasts.
Turner told the board that she’s been taking outside classes and doing additional research in order to better understand the process they should be using.
The podcasts will start airing in January with several coming out at the launch and continuing with two per month from then on. They will be about 30-45 minutes and will include interviews with people related to the topic. They will be available on any podcast app.
“I’ve taken some classes online and I have a laundry list of places where the podcast will be, but most people will probably just go to Apple or the podcast app on your phone,” Tucker said.
Michael Shine may be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter and like him on Facebook @MichaelAZShine for updates on Union County school news.