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The St Mary’s College Journalism and Media Team (JAM) is pleased to announce its latest venture – SMC Amplified.

SMC Amplified is a podcast showcasing stories from within the St Mary’s community. Every episode of the podcast was written, recorded, edited and produced by SMC students in Years 7 to 12. Artwork was designed by Year 11 student Lilly Hughes. The team was supported by Cultural Program Leader Mrs Courtney Fook, and Media Arts Teacher Ms Eryn Gower.

Podcast leader Amy McCormick (Year 10) said the idea for SMC Amplified was first discussed early last year. COVID-19 restrictions meant production had to be postponed.

“At the end of 2020, we decided we wanted to go ahead and began preparing,” Amy said. “Term 1 this year was spent planning, scripting and organising everything so we could get the project off the ground.”

The team began with developing the big picture, including how many episodes to record, the focus of the podcast and content ideas. Next, scripting for each episode began, along with designing a logo and jingle, and organising guests. Finally, the team contacted guests, planned a schedule for the day and prepared to record. On 28 April, the team was ready to put their plans into action and record SMC Amplified.

“For each segment, we had the hosts and guests go into our sound-proof room and record their segments. As soon as the episode finished recording, it was given to our editors to start editing. It was such a fun day!” Amy said.

Beyond the fun, involvement in SMC Amplified gives students the opportunity to refine several skills, and highlights the benefits of involvement in the St Mary’s co-curricular program. Writing and communication skills are strengthened through preparing and editing scripts; public speaking skills and self-confidence are developed when recording segments; time management and organisation are practised as students often needed to fit podcast preparations in outside of school hours, while balancing the competing priorities of school work and other extra curricular activities.

For Amy, working as part of a team was an invaluable learning experience. “I’ve learnt that you can gain a lot by being prepared to take on other people’s ideas and be flexible with your own ideas. Being open to other options was really important in the creative process for making the podcast,” she said. “I’m really glad I was involved in such a fantastic team who all supported each other.”

“Big thank you to Ms Gower and Ms Fook who really were the ones who made this all possible!” Amy said.

The first season of SMC Amplified consists of three episodes. The first episode introduces the SMC student leaders for 2021, the second episode celebrates student success and the third episode explores The Arts at SMC.

Season one of SMC Amplified is now available to stream on Spotify here.