Podcast Episode
Episode Description
In this episode, I talk with Matt Graham, an award-winning educator and the digital media specialist for Chesapeake Public Schools.
Matt shares how he first used podcasting with middle school students, then expanded that work and eventually led efforts to create a districtwide podcast focused on clear, consistent communication with families and the larger community.
We dig into the origin story, the early challenges, and the systems he put in place to get the district podcast off the ground. Matt also talks about how this work has helped the district build trust, highlight student and staff voices, and strengthen the connection between schools and the community. It’s a practical look at how one district is using podcasting to open doors and keep families informed.
Episode Resources
Episode Transcript
This transcript was generated using AI transcription tools to support accessibility and provide a searchable, readable version of the podcast. While we’ve reviewed and lightly edited the content for clarity, there may still be occasional errors or omissions.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
Welcome to The Balance. I’m Doctor Catlin Tucker and today my guest is Matt Graham, who has 22 years of experience in education, all in the Chesapeake Public School District. He is currently serving as a digital media specialist for broadcast media in the Communications Department in Chesapeake. He has been a middle school teacher and was awarded the 2021 Chesapeake Public Schools Middle School Teacher of the Year Award. He has been a technology integration specialist, and I had the pleasure of meeting Matt when I was working with Chesapeake Public Schools and he was sharing about the podcast that he helps produce for the district. I loved this idea of a district having its own podcast to communicate clearly with stakeholders, people in the community, parents, and students. I wanted him to come on and share a little bit about his work and why having a podcast at the district level has been so powerful for Chesapeake Public Schools.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
Well, I’m thrilled to have you on, and I always start by inviting my guests to share a little bit with listeners about their journey in education. So where did you start and how did you get to the work that you’re doing now?
Matt Graham
Thank you so much for having me on. It’s definitely a different feel for me because hosting a school district podcast and now being the guest is a little different. Now I get to see what we put our guests through in a way. My history: I started out as a teacher. I taught middle school for nine years. I taught everything but math—sixth and seventh grade English, history, and science at a couple of different schools. I was helping a lot of teachers with technology and found a love for helping others in that realm. At the time there was a position called Technology Integration Specialist, which supported teachers in integrating technology in the classroom and supporting students with that as well. Now it’s called a Technology Innovation Coach. I went for that job and got it. I was at two schools doing that for about ten years. I’ve been in education for 22 years, so the last four have been all about communications. My current role is digital media specialist in the Department of Communications, and it’s not a path I ever thought I’d take when I started in education.
Matt Graham
During Covid, we were at the middle school getting our school ready to go one-to-one, and this was before Covid hit. We were going to be the first middle school in our district to have one-to-one devices. We spent the whole year planning and training students and staff. We had this big reveal with the director there, and that same week we got the news we were shutting down. Our staff was definitely in a better spot because of all the work we did throughout the year. When we were navigating that, I saw how important consistent and clear messaging was—even the graphic design piece. I started finding a personal love for that. Then when this communications role came up, I was all for it.
Matt Graham
To piggyback on that, I started a school district podcast. It was a middle school podcast called The Great Bridge Middle School Pawcast—P-A-W—because we were the Wildcats. It was a student-led podcast. I got approval from the director of communications, and they were all about it. We had it in Google Classroom. It was fun. Then we shared it, the superintendent saw it, and I thought, “Whoa, this is pretty cool.” I found a love for it and helping students with something driven entirely by them.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
So is that how you made the leap to now producing the district-level podcast? Was it that somebody saw you do that or that you enjoyed it so much with the kids that you saw the value at a district level?
Matt Graham
I definitely saw the value at a district level. We didn’t have one, and our superintendent did too. Our superintendent, Doctor Jared Cotton, is spectacular. He prioritizes open and transparent communication with our community. In 2022, he won the Communication Technology Award for Superintendents from NSPRA, the National School Public Relations Association. The year after he got that award, he said, “All right, let’s get the green light on the podcast.” I was in the position, so that probably helped because I had the experience at the school level. It was definitely perfect place, perfect time.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
Before we talk about the value of a district podcast, I have to ask follow-up questions about something from your intro. Why middle school? Different teachers gravitate to different grade levels. What drew you to middle school?
Matt Graham
Oh man, every day is an adventure. You never know what’s going to happen. My certification is K–8. I did student teaching in elementary and middle school. In middle school, I felt like I could talk to them kind of like adults, but not quite—they’re still figuring out who they want to be heading into high school. It’s a fun group. I taught sixth and seventh grade. Before I left I was teaching seventh grade history. We were doing project-based learning, using technology, doing semester-long projects. They’re a blast. You come home thinking, “That was a day,” because you never know what’s going to happen. We had times where I’d get pied in the face if kids met certain goals. It was enthusiasm. It was a roller coaster. You’re just along for the ride.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
I loved high school, and when I’m in middle school I’m like, the energy is wild! It’s not the right fit for me, but I love that they still have that little kid in them as they grow. Okay, so you did a school-level podcast. Was this your idea or did it come from the kids? What did they want to talk about?
Matt Graham
This was a few years ago, and I thought, “Let’s do this. This is an avenue where as a TIC I can incorporate technology into learning.” It was a club. We had maybe 25–30 kids. It was hard to navigate who was doing what, but we came together once or twice a week. We shared with our families, our school community, teachers, staff, parents—different things happening at school. Stories we needed to share. Events to promote. We had a blast. We even had two professional baseball players—Michael Cuddyer and Connor Jones—on the podcast because they were alumni. It was all student-driven. They came up with topics. We narrowed them down. We tried to keep episodes 20–25 minutes. Middle school has so much going on. We talked about real things like dress code policy when a new dress code was coming out. We had the principal and students on. Students had different views and they shared them honestly. These podcasts make kids feel valued and heard. It was open dialogue.
Matt Graham
We even had a teacher use the podcast content for a writing reflection activity. Students listened to an episode—like the dress code one—and wrote reflections. I didn’t expect that, but it happened.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
I love young people feeling like their voice matters. I remember teaching high school and working with TEDx Ed. When I came back from a conference, I told my students we’d create TED Talks. They were not excited. They said, “Who’s going to want to watch a TED Talk I give?” And that broke my heart. If you don’t think your voice matters, that scares me. A podcast is such a wonderful way to ask, “What do you care about? What do you want to talk about? Who do you want to interview?”
Matt Graham
Yeah, and now at the district level, our co-host—my boss, our director Jay Luter—and I look forward to every episode. You’re talking about real things that are going on, making connections, letting guests feel valued and heard.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
So for educators listening who might want to try a school podcast, any advice?
Matt Graham
At the school level—first advice is: go for it. Get approval, make sure media opt-out forms are checked. All you need is a mic and something to record with. We bought Blue Yeti mics—fairly cheap. We used Audacity, which is free, and WeVideo since we’re a Google district. Keep episodes relevant. Keep them connected to what kids want or what the community wants. Be consistent. There’s always a story to tell. Start small—maybe once a month—and expand from there. The hardest part is taking that first step, getting your RSS feed set up, and hitting record.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
So you had that experience with middle school, then you end up producing a district podcast. What goals did you have for a district-level podcast?
Matt Graham
I shared the idea with our team and our superintendent. I pitched him on it. We have so many stories to tell—not just slide decks or board meetings. A podcast allows tone, emotion, nuance. It’s relatable. We can tell the district story. We brainstormed topics like key initiatives, district operations, how the school calendar is made—always a hot topic—our cell phone policy Away for the Day, and more. We also wanted it to be about people. We bring in staff, students, celebrate them. We called it Amplified—raising stories up. The tagline is “The stories behind our story.”
Matt Graham
We meet monthly, discuss ideas, keep a pulse on the community. I also broadcast school board meetings, so that helps with knowing what’s going on. We also listen to feedback through our communications platforms. We look at promotion requests and events coming in. Our superintendent always leads the first episode of each year sharing key initiatives—things we want to follow up on.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
It must be interesting balancing more logistical topics like attendance and calendar details with rich stories highlighting people. How do you decide what stories to tell?
Matt Graham
Our communications team is unique—seven people, four former educators. That helps us understand schools from multiple perspectives. We meet, discuss topics, use survey data and our two-way communications platform. We stay current with community questions. We also get promotions and event requests from teachers and principals. Everything runs through our department, so we have a pulse on meaningful stories. Then we choose ones that will resonate with families or celebrate something important.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
Do you get feedback that this helps create more connection between the district and community?
Matt Graham
Yes. We have families write in saying episodes helped explain something better. School board members tell us the podcast is outstanding and professional. That tells us we’re doing something right. We definitely think it strengthens community connections.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
I love that. As someone who talks about universal design for learning, offering different pathways for access is important. A podcast is such a great option for people who listen while driving or at the gym. I also love that you include students and that Chesapeake has a robust internship program. Can you talk about that and how interns might eventually play a role in the podcast?
Matt Graham
Our Department of College and Career Readiness has a program called Grow Our Own for rising 11th and 12th graders. It’s a paid internship with real-world experience across departments—IT support, planning, research, transportation, and communications. They come into our department and help with events, photography, posting to social media, making videos. They cover our general conference in August and take photos, post, interview. We showcase their work. Some students dive in fully. One student at the Governor’s School for the Arts who has a background in graphic arts did amazing work. She didn’t know this career path existed until she tried it.
Matt Graham
How will this fit into the podcast? My goal is that they run the whole thing—host, cut, edit, create topics. I want them to share what matters to them as students. Maybe next year or the year after we can hand off an entire series to them.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
I love that. When you’re in high school, you only consider professions you’ve had direct exposure to. Internships show students worlds they didn’t know existed and build confidence. It’s wonderful.
Matt Graham
It makes me think back to high school. I was voted “Most Talkative,” which my mom was not thrilled about. But here I am, in communications. This job didn’t exist back then. I didn’t even know I’d be good at radio or communications. And yet—here we are.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
Same! I got “frequently talks with classmates during class” on all my report cards. Now I speak for a living and host a podcast. Wild how that works out.
Matt Graham
Right? I also got “Most Animated” in middle school. My parents weren’t thrilled, but here we are. You just never know how things will play out.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
So what have been some challenges with producing a district-level podcast?
Matt Graham
When we started a few years ago, it was our supervisor of public relations, Richie Babb, and me. Richie had a background in radio. We asked: Where do we record? On-site? Mobile? At Central Office? We eventually chose to keep it central. But we’ve gone mobile a few times. When we started, we were in a tiny office—four by five feet. Richie behind his desk, four boom mics, one or two guests. We decided to cohost so we could play off each other and support each other since it was our first time. We bought a Rode system and a podcast mixer—fairly affordable. We planned prompts, hit record, edited after. Starting was the hardest part—figuring out logistics.
Matt Graham
The other big challenge is time. This is not my only job. We have other responsibilities. So we set aside time to record, then time to edit, then time to create promotional assets—cover art, photos. That’s why once a month works for us. In a perfect world we’d publish weekly or biweekly, but monthly is working well. We’re all about sharing wonderful things happening in our schools and highlighting the people and programs that make Chesapeake Public Schools unique. I don’t take that lightly. I want episodes to be as polished as possible. I edit myself harder than anyone because it’s not about me—it’s about the guest and what they’re sharing with the community.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
What have you learned about maintaining engagement over time? How do you get the word out?
Matt Graham
We market everywhere. When a new episode drops, we promote it on social, in weekly newsletters, in family updates. We post pictures of guests. We encourage guests to share episodes widely. If we feature a school or student, we let their pagemaster know so it can be shared with their community. At big events, we have a QR code saying, “If you’re reading this, it’s time for a podcast break.” Any way we can spread the word, we do.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
For districts thinking about starting their own podcast, any final advice?
Matt Graham
Take the first step. Just try. You never know what positive effect it might have. One example: We have a program called The Power of the Peak that highlights staff members. We did a segment with one of the recipients, Laura LaBianca, who is now an assistant principal. Afterward, she wrote me a letter saying the podcast helped her tell her story, helped her feel joyful, helped her walk into interviews with clarity and confidence. She thanked us for helping her find her voice. You never know the ripple effect of sharing someone’s story.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
I love that. My last question: What do you do to strive for balance in your life?
Matt Graham
I struggle with that the most. We have two young kids involved in lots of activities. Two full-time jobs between my wife and me. The job itself requires being at events, meeting deadlines. It’s hard to balance everything. I try to take time for myself each day—even a five-minute walk. I try to work out once a day if I can. My colleague Jessica reminds me to take breaks—she’ll say, “Have you taken lunch?” or “Time for a walk.” Taking an hour to yourself is so important. I still play a lot of tennis—one night a week with friends. It’s active, social, and away from the stress of the day. That set time every week is critical for me.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
Or get yourself a Jessica who pokes you to take breaks!
Matt Graham
Exactly. Jessica is wonderful. Our whole department is, but having her right next to me makes such a difference. She keeps me accountable.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
Well, I appreciate you coming on and sharing your experience. Maybe we piqued some interest around district-level podcasts. It’s such a cool concept. I really appreciate your time.
Matt Graham
Thank you for having me. This has been an experience as a guest—one I’ll remember for my future guests because now I know what it’s like in their shoes.
Dr. Catlin Tucker
I love the idea of a district-level podcast. Families may feel disconnected from school and district decisions, and having multiple avenues to share information is so important. A podcast gives parents insight into decisions like calendars, cell phone policies, and highlights people doing incredible work. It also opens the door for students to discover new interests—hosting, editing, sharing—and develop skills they’ll use beyond school. Thank you for joining me for this episode. I’ll include Matt’s contact information in the show notes. You can find me on Instagram at @CatlinTucker, on X at @Catlin_Tucker, or on my website CatlinTucker.com. If you have feedback, I’d love to hear from you. Have a wonderful rest of your week.
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