Above: From left: Fairmont Elementary School Social Worker Amy Becker, West Martin County Student Laila Dorschner, Fairmont High School Student Michelle Esquivel, and Drug Court Coordinator Tracy Henning at Fairmont on Thursday. Podcast recorded at Gemini Studio.
FAIRMONT – In an effort to share its message with more people, EMPOWER, the Martin County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (MCASAP) youth group, is partnering with Fairmont’s Gemini Studio to deliver a monthly podcast.
EMPOWER has locations in five local school districts: Fairmont High School, Truman High School, Granada-Huntley East Chain, Martin County West High School, and Martin Luther High School.
Sherry Larsen, MCSAP's project coordinator, said that in the fall of 2022, an EMPOWER student (formerly YOCO) approached her about doing something like a podcast to reach more people. said.
“I said, “I think that's a great idea.'' We talked about it, and the students said this would establish a voice as an EMPOWER group and really expand the community around the MCSAP organization. We thought it would help spread our prevention message.” Larsen said.
Desta Misegades, another project coordinator at MCSAP, said they started meeting with students about this in July 2023.
Two MLHS EMPOWER students, Natalie Taylor and Emma Saylor, are participating in a media class taught by Gemini owners Sherry and Bruce Abitz. Msegades said they offered to edit the podcast, and the Abitzes agreed to let them use their equipment. Thus a partnership was born.
Msegades said the first episode took place at Fairmont High School, but then they found it much easier to record and edit at Gemini Studios.
“Once Shelly (Abitz) finishes shooting, she gets it into the computer, so the transfer time is much faster.” said Taylor.
The title of the podcast is “Coffee and Clarity: Preventing Substance Misuse.”
“Students wanted something that was welcoming, conversational and educational.” Larsen said.
She explained that this is a platform for students and adults to hear from experts working in many areas of substance abuse prevention.
So far, seven episodes have been released, ranging from 20 to 40 minutes, each with a different focus. September's theme was Mental Health and Suicide Awareness, featuring UNIO's Dr. Ramy Vetter and school social worker Michelle Thompson. In October, we included information on general health and opioids and featured Dr. Tim Slama.
“It's growing and expanding and we're learning as we go.” Larsen said. “In February we
Pat McCone of the American Lung Association was in charge, and the topics were: “Signal – Exposing deceptive marketing aimed at Minnesota youth.”
Typically, there are two student hosts and two guests present during the recording.
“It's the students who introduce the guests and ask questions. It's pretty conversational. It's not just a strict list of questions, and it usually branches out.” Msegades said.
All students within EMPOWER, which spans five school districts, are welcome to join the podcast committee.
“I like editing.” Taylor said. “It's faster than when I started. When I started, it took me about five hours. Now I'm done within two to three hours.”
Taylor is in Year 11 and plans to go into media arts with the hope of shooting short films.
She said she is taking several media classes taught by Sherry Abitz and Bruce Abitz.
As for why she wanted to collaborate on the podcast, Shelley said Geminis typically donate their time to help different organizations each year, and this year they are EMPOWER. She also noted that they teach every Tuesday and Thursday at MLHS.
“I think this information is really just for me.” Sherry said of filming the podcast:Some of the guests are very knowledgeable and really inspire me. Then, of course, we work with the media students to put it all together and publish it on the web. ”
Misegades said MCSAP also gained a lot of information and connections from interviews with guests.
“What's really great about the relationships that the kids are building is that they're not only interacting with experts at the local level, but also at the regional and national level.” Larsen said.
We plan to continue recording podcasts every month. You can find them on Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, and Audible.
