Welcome to Santa Station: Santa Maria’s New Podcast
Last week saw the launch of Santa Station, our new student-run podcast. Santa Station looks at relevant topics and encourages listener involvement through interactive games.
You can listen to the first episode at the end of this story. We’ll bring you more episodes as they are produced.
We asked the three presenters, Tolu Sorunmu (Year 12), Sumaya Northcott (Year 11) and Samantha Bozanich (Year 10), about the new initiative.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO DO A PODCAST?Â
The idea to do a podcast originally came from the past Year 12 Film Crew students and Mr Thomas. They presented the idea to the rest of us and everyone really liked it. We’ve been writing and tinkering with scripts since the end of 2019 with Miss Crossley. I guess we all thought it would be good to finish making the podcast during quarantine to bring everyone closer to school.
WHAT IS YOUR FIRST PODCAST ABOUT?
Our first podcast was an introduction to Santa Station. In the episode, we discuss what our experiences were working from home with online learning. We also included segments like ‘Two Truths’ and ‘One Lie’ and ‘Would You Rather’, so we can give our listeners the chance to interact and be a part of our podcast.
WHAT TOPICS WILL YOU COVER IN THE FUTURE?
In future podcasts, we will continue segments that allow our listeners to interact with us and submit their answers to be a part of discussions. Regarding segments, we might try and change it up every once and a while to keep it interesting. Personally I really like our discussions on relevant topics because it gives us a chance to share our experiences with each other and our listeners. So far I have really enjoyed being a part of Santa Station and I hope we can continue it into the future.
WHAT’S THE PROCESS IN CREATING YOUR PODCAST?
Completing each episode of our podcast usually takes around two weeks because for every episode we record, we go through these 4 steps:
Scripting/Researching
Before we start recording, we have to come up with what we’re going to talk about. Miss Crossley chooses a topic to discuss and puts together the main structure of the episode as a script. Tolu, Sam and I then edit the script online. We come up with some of the questions for the games or change up any of our responses to make it more personal or fun. We went off a script for the first two episodes. However, after relistening to them, we all agreed that we should cut out the scripted parts of the discussion. Hopefully making it more of a casual conversation instead of just reading from a script. Continuing into further episodes, we will choose a topic and a few common points to talk about. Tolu, Sam and I will do some research so that we can have that discussion naturally when recording.
Recording
Next comes the actual recording of the episode. For the first episode, we had to record it remotely from our homes. We used zencastr.com. Now we get to use the ‘creative space’ in the library to record onto one of our laptops which makes it a lot easier. We record during recess or lunch.
Recording the episode is a lot of fun, being able to use the recording equipment and just chatting to each other about the different topics.
Editing
Now for the editing stage! I send the audio to Miss Crossley who puts it all together and adds in the sound effects, music etc. Before we upload the episode, she sends this back to Tolu, Sam and I to listen to and give feedback. I then help out with the last few fine edits and send it back to Miss Crossley.
Publishing
Finally, once the podcast is complete, it is uploaded onto SEQTA and hopefully, fingers crossed, people enjoy what we’ve put together!
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PODCAST AT THE MOMENT?
Although I don’t usually listen to podcasts, I feel like I have listened to the Casefile True Crime Podcast more than any others. It’s really well done and is pretty interesting to listen to. SumayaÂ
My favourite podcast at the moment is called Overdue. It’s one where the hosts read and discuss books that are deemed ‘classic reads’ that managed to pass them by. ToluÂ
My favourite podcast would have to be Dr Karl from the ABC. Samantha
Here is the first episode of Santa Station.
Combating The Attention Span Crisis In Our Students – Jennifer Oaten
It is no secret that attention spans have been steadily declining, especially among younger generations growing up immersed in digital technology. The average person’s attention span when using a digital device has plummeted from around two and a half minutes back in 2004 to just 47 seconds on average today – a dramatic 66% decrease over the past two decades.
Weekly Wrap Up: Term 2, Week 2, 2024
Week 2 has come to an end! This Weekly Wrap Up features highlights from Scuba Diving Club, the Sisterhood Series, and Boarding ANZAC Service.
Santa Maria Teams Shine in Term 1 Sports
Santa Maria had a huge number of girls in the IGSSA AFL and Volleyball competition with strong results for a number of teams.
- ConnectingLearning2Life, Creativity, Featured, ICTCapabilities
Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.
