As the newest branch of AHS journalism and media, ArapahoeXtra has spent the past few years in development. In its early stages, the website featured a small fraction of content and few readers. Its approach towards online journalism has long since developed into a broader, more advanced form of digital media. The website now highlights collections of both Arapahoe and outside news. With new content uploaded each week, one can find a variety of topics within one domain, ranging from sports recaps to political perspectives. With articles and videos, it continues to expand its outreach through different journalistic formats. However, for the team behind ArapahoeXtra, something new is on the horizon.

Podcasts. 

The popularity of podcasts has spiked immensely in the past years, amassing listeners across the country and the globe. Eager to join the rapidly developing phenomenon, members of AHS Warrior Media are powering forward with AHS’s own podcast channel. Though exact details of the project are yet to be decided, journalism students remain enthralled with the overall concept.

In preparation, a pair of students, Maggie Coan (12) and Devin Luedke (12), began renovating a stale journalism closet into a podcast room. In the midst of the room’s renovation, Luedke commented on his excitement for the future of AHS podcasts. “It will be great to produce new content”, Luedke explained. ArapahoeXtra tends to utilize several different media outlets for content production, and with Xtra’s Youtube on the rise, podcasts seemed like another achievable frontier.

“I am excited for it,” said Mr. Anderson, Arapahoe High School’s journalism teacher. “I’m glad students are taking initiative and creating a new space”. Renovators of the podcast room hope to bring new light and activity to an area typically used for storage. Of course, it’s still in the works, with boxes littered around the floor and dust layered across shelves. “We’re actually going to be able to breathe in there,” Parker Anderson (11) joked.

Once the room is finished, AHS can expect a surge of new and diverse content. The podcasts will feature an assortment of topics, perspectives, and conversations, to further suit a wide range of listeners. Journalism students are excited to get working – and talking – as they produce their podcasts in class.

Listeners won’t have to wait too long either. According to Luedke, the first podcasts will likely premiere around Christmas/late December. They will be available online (specific details coming soon).

It’s an exciting time at AHS journalism. Tune in to see how the premiere podcasts turn out!