One thing that was made very clear at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with uncertainty around every corner, was a heightened awareness of and participation in municipal government. The need to move quickly from in-person meetings to broadcast, Zoom and electronic versions of public meetings happened almost overnight. There also seemed to be more questions about what the city did on a daily basis. Meanwhile, podcasting only continued to grow in popularity.
In early 2021, Assistant City Manager Jon Rahl connected with Seaside High School Business Teacher Mike Verhulst about the idea of working with students to help create a podcast. Verhulst told Rahl he'd see if he could drum up some interest amongst students. Perhaps, he said, it could even be used as a Pacifica Project (an annual senior project for all graduating students at SHS) while also serving to tell the story of a local government through the eyes of students.
An idea was officially hatched and that soon led to the involvement of Mary Roberto and Aiden Ousley, two high school juniors at the time. Roberto, Ousley and Verhulst were joined by Rahl beginning in February 2021 for a series of Zoom meetings to discuss potential content, development process and the rough production of a mock-up episode. Verhulst also welcomed good advice from Portland-based Tyson Ferris who contributed to the project by sharing his own knowledge of successful podcasting. The students went into summer break with a plan to record content with City of Seaside department heads when the 2021-2022 school year kicked off in September. Working with Rahl, department heads visited the students and their newly developed studio on the campus of Seaside High School to record conversations that would eventually be turned into a series.
Not only did the students work throughout the year to edit and put together the eight episodes, their project was also entered in the Future Business Leaders of America State Business Leadership Conference competition where they took home second place. The Pacifica Project also became a reality and was used for both Ousley and Roberto's final senior project to conclude their time at Seaside High School. Thanks to this project, a behind-the-scenes perspective on municipal work within the walls of the City of Seaside will live on for many years to come. The City of Seaside wishes to thank Mary Roberto, Aiden Ousley, Mike Verhulst and Seaside High School for collaborating on this project.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up