$5K TVA grant to bring student podcasting program to RES
RUSSELLVILLE — Elementary School students will soon be recording podcasts, interviewing community members and exploring career paths in a program being set up in a room connected to the school library.
The project, which is funded by a $5,000 grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority, is designed to introduce students to the kind of technology and project-based work they will encounter later in school.
RES is one of 339 schools to receive funding through the TVA program supported by Bicentennial Volunteers Inc., a TVA retiree organization which partners with the utility to fund STEM projects across the region.
TVA President and CEO Don Moul said the goal is to encourage students to consider careers in STEM fields.
Tiffany Warhurst, principal of RES, said the podcasting equipment has been delivered and placed in the room. She said the space still needs to be painted and set up, and the school is waiting on licensing and final installation of some equipment before students begin using it.
RES Media specialist Leanne James wrote the grant, titled “Kids Career: Exploring Future STEM Jobs in Our Community,” after taking part in the Ed Farm Teacher Fellow Program at the middle school. The program focuses on technologybased learning. She said the funding paid for a Rode podcasting system, an iPad to run the equipment and a Podbean subscription to publish podcasts. It also covered paint and supplies to create green screen walls.
Students will begin by researching careers, including required education and skills, then work in groups to prepare questions.
James said they will interview either high school students in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program or community members with student work shared through school podcast channels.
Warhurst said the idea grew out of seeing what students encounter at the middle school and wanting to introduce those tools earlier.
“Seeing what the middle school has and how STEM-oriented it is, I wanted our fifth graders to be exposed to that before they get there,” she said.
The plan is to begin shifting the elementary library toward more hands-on, technologybased learning. The program will initially focus on students who are in enrichment classes before expanding it.
“It may even involve our own students teaching other students,” Warhurst said.
Librarian and media specialist Lauren Archer said the goal is to build problem-solving skills and confidence.
Russellville City Schools Career and Technical Education Director Dr. AnnaKay Holland said fifth graders to podcasts earlier will strengthen the pipeline for other technologybased programs.
“Early exposure to career-connected learning in elementary school bridges skills learned with future opportunities in CTE,” Holland said.
Superintendent Dr. Tim Guinn said the project fits into a broader effort to connect schoolwork to real-world use.
“I’m very proud of the partnership between TVA and RCS and the resources this TVA grant can secure for our students,” Guinn said.
He said the district is focused on connecting classroom learning to practical use.
“We believe that a well-rounded education involves more than just the base skills of reading, writing and mathematics to be regurgitated on a state test,” he said.
