Last spring, the delightful woman with whom Rowland Hall works when writing and scheduling underwriting spots on KUER called the school and asked who among our faculty might use public radio programs in his or her curriculum. She had recently had a typical "Small Lake City" experience in which she heard from a friend who bumped into a Rowland Hall faculty member at a symphony reception that someone she worked with was using "This American Life" in their classroom. If we could find out who it was, KUER would like to record a spot with that teacher for use during the station's fall 2014 fund drive.



Instantly intrigued, our communication office immediately sent an email inquiry to faculty, which turned up several potential candidates among our Middle School and Upper School teachers.



We heard from Ted Zeitler, seventh grade English teacher, who said, "When teaching limericks during the poetry unit, I use the limerick challenge from 'Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me.' I've also used an NPR 'Morning Edition' story about the community-wide haiku writing that takes place in Washington, DC, when the cherry trees blossom."



"I use PRI (Public Radio International) and ‘Morning Edition’ segments from NPR in my classes fairly frequently," emailed Margot Miller, who teaches seventh grade world studies. Steve Mond in the Upper School also replied, "I use NPR's ‘Planet Money’ in both AP Economics and Math Apps."

Lauren Carpenter, a health and physical education teacher, replied, "Actually, next week I will be using ‘The Diane Rehm Show’ as a starting point for a discussion of sexual violence on college campuses." Also in the high school, Fiona Halloran, a history teacher and department chair, weighed in with, "We are using 'Diane Rehm' and 'Fresh Air.'"

We laughed when we heard from Laura Johnson, a twelfth grade English teacher, who said, "I had a friend suggest that 'A Prairie Home Companion' might be a good torture device to use in detention because teens hate it, but don't tell KUER that! But seriously, when I have used public radio, I was impressed that the kids sat still and really enjoyed an entire ‘This American Life.’ And I liked that it put them in touch with how people used to experience stories collectively, through reading out loud, listening to the radio, etc."



Then Mary Lawlor, a sixth grade English teacher, responded with, "I guess I am your girl! I'm just finishing up with an elective I call This Incredible Life. We listened to several podcasts including 'This American Life,' 'The Moth,' and 'Fresh Air.' The kids then created their own podcasts focusing on the absurdity of Middle School life."



Having found the culprit, but also having unearthed this larger savvy group of teachers who are accessing interesting, intellectual outside resources to enrich their students' learning, we provided a list to KUER, who followed up with an inquiry: "May we interview three of your teachers for our fundraising spots?" Subsequently, Terry Gildea, the station's recently appointed news director, visited the Middle School with microphone and recorder in hand to interview Mary Lawlor, Margot Miller, and Ted Zeitler, with the goal of producing short vignettes about the far-reaching community impact of public radio.



We believe that the resulting spots truly demonstrate how thoughtfully and creatively our faculty uses outside resources to bring the real world into the classroom. Many thanks to all of our teachers who were incredibly responsive when asked to share their expertise with the world outside their classroom.

We are happy to present the spots here for your own driveway moments.

People