Willowville Students Interview Former Bengals QB for Podcast

(Cincinnati, OH) - Aspiring podcasters at Willowville Elementary got the chance to interview former Bengals Quarterback Jon Kitna.

Four fifth graders at Willowville are part of an innovative new partnership with West Clermont High School teacher Brandi Calton and two of her communication interns to produce the Warrior Way Podcast. 

This podcast was the brainchild of Willowville Principal Kevin Jones who asked Calton to help his students create it.

“I said, awesome, I'd never done a podcast before or produced one, so it was just kind of a grassroots just looking things up, getting some basic equipment, and it's gone really smoothly,” Calton said. “I'm very happy with the partnership it's created and I think that these fifth graders are so personable and their communication skills are just awesome for being in fifth grade.”

The podcast, which is focused on leadership, explores The 7 Habits of Very Effective People by author Stephen Covey.

The seven habits include:

• Be proactive
• Begin with the end in mind
• Put first things first
• Think win-win
• Seek first to understand then to be understood
• Synergize
• Sharpen the saw

During this episode, the students asked Jon Kitna how these habits played out on the football field.

“Less of the leadership in the NFL happens on the field as much as it happens off the field. Your leadership traits, the relationships you build carry you when you get on the field,” explained Kitna. “When I think of leadership, I think the most important thing is being who you are, you can’t be someone else, people see right through that. You have to be very authentic and secondly being a servant leader and trying to lift others up.”

The students interviewed Kitna at The Cincinnati Podcast Studio in downtown Cincinnati as part of a field trip. 

“This is our first group of students we've ever had come into the place, so this has been fantastic,” said The Cincinnati Podcast Studio co-owner Brian Erickson. “I love their questions, and I don't know, there's something adorable about fifth graders interviewing this massive 6-5 foot Jon. It's like, it was pretty funny to watch, but they asked great questions, and the answers we got were really fantastic, so it was a good time.”

The students said they were super excited to be in a real podcast studio interviewing a celebrity.

“It was really exciting and not everybody gets to do some things like this,” said Avery Rone, a Fifth Grader at Willowville Elementary. “Even if you are famous, that doesn't mean that every part of your, like, becoming famous is, was that, I guess, glamorous or I guess happy.”

“Well, when I was on the bus, I was very nervous and I was very jittery, but now that I’ve gotten done with the podcast, I now realize that it’s not that bad anymore,” said Richie Simmonds. “I learned that he is a very normal person and that sometimes even the highest people and the most famous people are still normal people.”

Calton explains that while the students are learning about podcasting and video editing they are also learning about communication and other life skills that will help them in their future.

“These fifth graders, they're responsible for sending out the Google invites and calendar invites, just like we use as adults in the working world. These fifth graders are doing that as well. I remember when Mrs. Adams was our first guest. I said, well, you’re going to have to start checking your email now. And after they sent that first calendar invite to Mrs. Adams, Richie actually, emailed me on a Saturday. So he was checking his email after hours. And he goes, oh my gosh, she said yes! He was so excited that our Superintendent had responded that she would be the first guest on his podcast,” said Calton.

Fifth grader Marin Milleson shares what skills she’s learned so far and what she’s working on.

“The skills I've learned so far, mostly the seven habits. And I've been working on eye contact, so I have that easier. And also, I've been trying not to be as fidgety, because usually when I'm sitting still for a while, I just have to feel fidgety a lot,” said Milleson.

The two high school students who are helping mentor these elementary students jumped at the chance to help.

“I enjoy mentoring these students because I think it is something they can use a lot in the future. Everyone knows our world is becoming more and more digital and this class teaching them how to use a camera or talking to people they don't know well really helps them with skills in the future,” said Rylee Barnes.

To hear more from these students click this link.

To listen to this latest episode featuring Jon Kitna scan the QR Code below.