With the gripping influence of the internet shaping young minds these days, it’s a goal of teachers and faculty to know how to communicate and teach students in a way that will get through to them.
Mindshift is a new podcast created for the Papillion La Vista Community Schools by Dr. Deb Anderson, the district mental health liaison, and Dr. Christopher Villarreal, the district director of communications.
The two decided to make a podcast after talking with a group of counselors from the district they referred to as the PLCS Empowerment Collective.
“That’s kind of our brain trust group,” Villarreal said. “We get that group together, we bounce ideas around with each other, and from there, [Anderson] and I take action.”
“We have stickers we’ve made from that group, and one of them says ‘Always learning,’” Villarreal added, “and that is true. I didn’t know anything about podcasting three weeks ago, and now I know a lot.”
From brainstorming on ideas about reaching families and teachers in the community, the podcast was born. Its first episode, on “Shifting the Perspective on Healthy Lifestyles,” premiered Jan. 15.
It’s all part of an effort to “meet people where they are,” Villarreal said, “to just help them out, … and that’s why we’ve done some in-person events. As well as the podcast, we have some web resources in development. Just trying to come at it from all angles, so that way, wherever it is that it’s going to be easiest for you to get this information, we want to have it there.”
In expanding its ideas, the PLCS Empowerment Collective surveyed parents, asking them what they wished they knew more about, Dr. Anderson said. “The podcast, the resource information, and the in-person events are all around the things that parents said they want to learn more about. We’re not the ones coming up with the ideas and the topics. We’re really trying to get it from teachers and parents. We’re trying to get it from people in the community,” she said.
When asked about why they decided on a podcast as opposed to other forms of media, Villarreal said, “We wanted it to be something that parents and guardians could listen to as they are driving to school to drop off their kids.”
The secondary audience for the podcast is staff in the district. All of the guests interviewed on the podcast so far have been teachers and counselors at various schools looking to share their insight on mental health and communication.
Topics have included anxiety and depression, AI, and the ups and downs of using technology. Every title starts with the words “Shifting the perspective on…,” introducing listeners to the idea of thinking about a confusing or challenging topic in a different way.
“We want these conversations to shift perspectives from what people normally think about any given topic and encourage them to think about things differently,” Villarreal said.
Though being a pioneer is fun, it’s not always easy.
“This is truly a time where we’re still building the airplane as we’re flying it,” Anderson said. “We didn’t know the steps; we kind of made them up as we went along.”
The two had no idea how to start a podcast, but their ambition to start something new, and determination to help inform the community by changing their perspectives was not lacking.
Villarreal mentioned, “What’s funny is, I’m not a podcast listener. I don’t know about podcasting. I’m learning as I go here.…”
The two started completely from scratch and worked their way to all major podcasting networks such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Mindshift has opened the door for so much content connecting faculty f to families in the community, developing a brand new playing field for change.
