By Natalie Mack
Nantucket High School offers a variety of extracurricular activities that students can participate in. Musical productions, singing groups, environmentalist groups, volunteer opportunities, and so much more. One thing that has never been offered to the students of Nantucket High is podcasting. Podcasting is an audio recording of a story, conversation, and variating topics. Listening to podcasts has become widely popular during the pandemic on both ends. “Inside Radio” states that, “…there is growing evidence that the coronavirus lockdowns may be steering more people to audio…41% of weekly podcast listeners report they are spending more time listening to on-demand audio content.” With this in mind, a group of students and adults called “ACK Teen”, came up with the idea to give Nantucket High School their very own podcast. ACK Teen started a couple of years ago as a monthly meeting where non-profits working with teens would come together to share their current and upcoming programs in an effort to decrease duplicity.
“Last Spring we eventually decided that while we were all together we should pool our resources and work collaboratively. The ethos of the group has always been to help teenagers achieve their full potential by providing them with opportunities that they want to do. Ultimately we want the students to get the most out of whatever it is they do,” Blair Janelle, Program Coordinator at Nantucket Community School, stated. Some NHS students took the initiative for this group when the ACK Teen group presented it. The first episode has already started.
Episodes will consist of multiple hosts and one to two guests. Guests will be anyone from class officers, administrators, community members, coaches, as well as anybody NHS and the island community want to hear from. The idea behind bringing in guest speakers into the episodes is so that the podcast gives the best and most accurate information that it can. Guests will be determined by the hosts and who they think would be best to hear from at that time. As the podcast progresses, the hope is that students and staff will request certain topics or certain guests that want to hear about or hear from. Janelle adds that, “Many people turn to podcasts as a primary source for information. It is easily accessible and I think will serve as a great way for information to be broadcasted and the student’s voice to be represented in our community. I think it is also a great platform for students and adults to connect and share their thoughts and ideas.”
Although Whalers on the Mic is a brand new group for Nantucket High School, there is no doubt it will be successful. If you would like to be a guest for one of the episodes, or are a student interesting in being a part of Whalers on the Mic, or want them to cover a certain topic or interview a specific person, please reach out to either Natalie Mack (mack_nk@npsk.org) or Blair Jannelle (jannelleb@npsk.org). Stay tuned for the first episode that will air after spring break where they talk to senior class co-president, Camie Strojny, about everything from Senior Banquet 2021 to how seniors are feeling after their year being deeply affected by the pandemic. Happy listening!
Veritas 
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