Four seventh grade students at Greene County Middle School can be considered as innovators for starting something new that was thought of by them and supported by the staff and administration.

Maya McCane says at the beginning of the school year, she along with Krista Larson, Mara Weir, and Ashlyn Wright came up with the idea to start a podcast, covering middle school topics. After receiving approval from Principal Cara Osborne and Technology Director Brent Gerzema, the girls named it “The Cave” which is a nod to a sign that hung in the area of Matthew Paulsen’s social studies classroom where the idea originated. 

Gerzema tells Raccoon Valley Radio that there are also perimeters in place to ensure the content is school appropriate, as Larson describes her favorite subject that they talked about so far was advocating for more physical education and outdoor recess time for seventh and eighth graders.

“Not a lot of students get PE or recess a day. Fifth and sixth are the only grades that get recess (at the middle school), and seventh and eighth grade, some people don’t even get PE or recess in their week. So that’s definitely a need that we need more physical activity during our (school) days.”

Wright mentions that they have incorporated guests on their podcast with seventh grade girls basketball coach Abbey Gerzema and most recently Osborne, with future guests being some girls basketball players and wrestlers. She talks about her favorite part of doing the podcast.

“My favorite part is definitely about kind of how we bond. We all get to hang out and just talk about each other. We get to learn new things each day. We favorite is also how it gives me something to look forward to. Mondays are kind of boring.”   

Gerzema adds his overall impression of how this idea came together in support of doing something that leads to real-world experiences which was all started by four students.

“We initially could’ve said, ‘You know, cool idea but no we can’t do that.’ But instead we kind of rallied around the kids and said, ‘Yeah let’s definitely make this happen.’  We want to make sure that they get exposed to this kind of stuff because you know, it’s very possible that one of these four girls or two, three, four of these four girls could work in radio or could work in tv news, or podcasting, or influencing in the future. And what better place for them to get the experience and a start on this than the middle school.” 

Gerzema says after The Cave is recorded on Mondays, it is posted on the school district’s website and Facebook page every Tuesday sometime between 9am and noon. Due to winter break, The Cave will be on pause until classes resume on Monday, January 6th.