On October 21, 2022, the 1020 Dogcast launched its first episode titled “Meet Your Counselor -pt. 1”. Then proceeded to upload the second part a few moments later. 

The Counseling Department is always looking for ways to communicate with students and families, and at a meeting earlier in the school year, starting a podcast was brought up.

“It came up in a meeting with our Counseling Department,” Post-secondary counselor Eddie Bobbitt said. “We were trying to think of a way that we could get information out to our students so that they can review it on their own time. Additionally, we wanted something that parents/guardians could reference. Then we came up with the idea of the podcast. The goal of the show is to get meaningful content such as: volunteer opportunities, college application and scholarship information, employment opportunities, and so on to our NAHS community but keep the shows between ten to 20 minutes. The tone of the show is fun, laid back, but informational.”

The process of setting up the podcast was easy, and made even easier with the help of some radio students.

“First, we had to see if WNAS would be interested in hosting,” Bobbitt said. “Thankfully for us, fourth period students were excited about this initiative. Then we had to figure out how to get on all the major platforms. A process that turned out to be much easier than originally anticipated. There were no setbacks other than just finding the time to set everything up.”

The department plans to release a minimum of one to two episodes a week.

“So far, we’ve covered a couple introductory episodes,” Bobbitt said. “These were intended to introduce ourselves to our families and hopefully that can be used in the future for incoming students. We’ve also covered the process to vote, opportunities at Prosser, employment opportunities in New Albany, etc. In the future we hope to start having student spotlights. We also have numerous college and military representatives signed up to come in the studio.”

According to Bobbitt, radio students have been “rock stars” in the process.

“The staff in WNAS have been instrumental in helping us pull this off,” Bobbitt said. “That’s one of the things I like most about this project. We are taking in student input, which helps tailor the content, and the show is student produced. How cool is that?”

Junior Nathan Samsel is the producer of the podcast.

“He does an outstanding job troubleshooting tech issues and making sure we are in the right positioning to sound the best on the microphone,” Bobbitt said. “He also edits the episodes before they get published. Every great podcast or radio show has a producer with a cool nickname. We need one for him. Students should send me ideas if they come up with one. Seriously, the 1020 Dogcast does not happen without his assistance. He has been awesome.”

You can find the 1020 Dogcast on all major platforms and if you would like to submit ideas for the counselors to discuss or people you think they should feature, Bobbitt has sent out a google form that you can fill out.

“We are pumped about this project,” Bobbitt said. “We hope that more and more students will give it a shot and let us know who we can feature or what topics they want covered.”