Children at Richard Lewis Brown Academy smile as they get ready for a podcast session l William Jackson
Published on February 14, 2024 at 5:36 pm
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Children at Richard Lewis Brown Academy in Jacksonville are finding their voices in a way their parents couldn’t. Through podcasting.
The podcast, part of the school’s PEARLS Program, allows the students to discuss a variety of topics that are important to them — things they might not have any other way to express.
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“We know that sometimes adults don’t necessarily stop to ask children what they’re thinking about, and they have thoughts and feelings that they would like to express also,” said Arlene Cameron-Lloyd, one of the adults who helped start the podcast.
Richard Lewis Brown Academy is a magnet school for gifted and academically talented children in Jacksonville’s Eastside neighborhood.
Cameron-Lloyd said the PEARLS program is an acronym that stands for Positive Engagement Accelerates Relevant Leadership Skills. It allows children to explore opportunities through workshops that they might not have considered before — areas like sewing, gardening, health and, in this case, podcasting.
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The children write, talk and produce content for the podcast under Cameron-Lloyd’s supervision.
“I like to draw because it makes me happy,” a fourth grader named Jada said on the podcast last week. “I think that art is best for me, and I like to draw on pieces of paper. I like to draw sketches and doodle on pieces of paper.”
Malia, who is in the third grade, talked about how writing helps her relieve stress.
“When you write to calm your stress down, you can write out your feelings instead of yelling, screaming and slamming doors,” Malia said. “That is how I use to take stress out, but I taught myself an easier way.”
Taylar Brown, who is in the fifth grade, said she was excited to be able to write what she wants about topics like trivia and fashion.
“When I learned about the podcast, I was excited because I got to talk about what I do and express what I want it to say,” Brown said.
She hopes someone will hear the podcast and sponsor it so she and her fellow students get more opportunities to explore.
The podcast launched in January, and Cameron-Lloyd said she hopes the children develop skills they can use as they move through middle and high school and possibly into a career.
You can listen to the PEARLS Podcast on Spotify. New episodes come out weekly.
Lead image: Children at Richard Lewis Brown Academy smile as they get ready for a podcast session l William Jackson
