From Day One to 100: The Journey of Voices and What the Future Holds with Ms. Tiffany Hernandez

Reaching 100 episodes is a major milestone! In today’s special episode, we’re taking a look back at the journey of Voices—from how it all began to where we are now, and what’s ahead for the future. We’ll also highlight some of our top episodes, share insights from a recent survey and more. A huge thank you to all our guests and listeners—you are the reason Voices has become what it is today! 

IN THIS EPISODE, WE WILL REVIEW

• An overview of Seneca Valley’s Voices podcast and how it started
• Top 5 downloaded episodes
• Recent survey results
• Types of episodes listeners can expect to hear in the future
• How Seneca Valley is celebrating its 100th episode of Voices

SPECIAL GUESTS
Ms. Tiffany Hernandez, Content Marketing Specialist

Ms. Hernandez has been part of the Seneca Valley team since 2022. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from Stephen F. Austin State University and brings more than 15 years of experience in marketing. Prior to joining Seneca Valley, she worked in public relations at the Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau, where she played a key role in developing award-winning communication strategies. At Seneca Valley, Ms. Hernandez works alongside the Communications Director to create story ideas, write press releases, photograph events, manage the Voices podcast, support content marketing for the Seneca Valley Academy of Choice, plan special events, coordinate the annual report, contribute feature articles, and more. 

Transcript

FULL TRANSCRIPT (with timecode)

00:00:02:28 - 00:00:10:15
Welcome to Voices, a national award-winning podcast brought to you by the Seneca Valley School District. 

00:00:11:16 - 00:00:33:22
Jeff Krakoff: This is Jeff Krakoff. This episode is a special one. It's actually our 100th podcast for Voices. And we have a special guest, Tiffany Hernandez, who is content marketing specialist with Seneca Valley. And we're going to basically talk about how it all started. What to look for in the future. Tiffany, thanks for joining us today. 

00:00:33:28 - 00:00:36:00
Tiffany Hernandez: Yeah, thank you for having me. We're excited. 

00:00:36:11 - 00:01:00:16
Jeff Krakoff: Yeah. So it's been a fun ride. Tell me a little bit more about Voices. And again, I was there you know I know it was a historic time right. During Covid, during the pandemic. But let's just talk about the very beginning, why it started, how it started. And, uh, from your perspective. 

00:01:01:08 - 00:02:22:18
Tiffany Hernandez: Sure. So we were talking about creating a podcast in 2019-20 school year. So when Covid happened, it initially put that on the back burner as we had more pressing and immediate communications to deliver. So over the summer of 2020, we realized that a platform would serve us well in communicating with our parents and how the school year would look moving forward. When we opened our doors for return in August, which was really a challenging time for everyone. Um, our first podcast actually turned into a 14-part podcast series where we asked many different departments and many faces within the district to share their plans and their goals for the return to school. Um, you know, since then we've had many more podcasts and they share everything about from student fundraising activities, safety and security, special events, academics, college and career preparations, summer camps. Just a variety of topics that we feel is a great interest to all of our listeners, our students, our staff, our parents. And they've really been very well received. And we're excited to continue this. 

00:02:24:16 - 00:02:36:19
Jeff Krakoff: Yeah. So I know you've listened to all 99 previous episodes, but looking back on those, do you have a personal favorite or favorite that stands out to you? 

00:02:37:10 - 00:03:53:04
Tiffany Hernandez: You know I do. It is tough to choose a favorite because like you said, they're all fantastic episodes that cover a variety of topics. But you know, if I had to pick a personal favorite, as a parent, I would actually choose the college and career preparations with Ms. Darla Ramirez-Lightner. I thought this was a really enlightening episode because I know so many of you know our parents and, you know. Myself included. I feel like college and career preparations kind of sneak up on you as a parent, and she was really able to share a lot of detail about top questions that parents ask, you know, regarding college and career planning. She provided a lot of helpful tips and advice that, you know, parents and guardians should know. Um, and also several student and parent resources that are available on our website. There's a ton of information out there and it can be, you know, overwhelming at times especially, you know, during that crucial time period of trying to figure out what your next step is after graduation. So again, I felt, um, as a parent, that was just a really great resource for me to learn more about, and I feel like others really, um, took to that episode as well. 

00:03:53:16 - 00:05:39:06
Jeff Krakoff: And that's the beauty of podcasts, right? They're they're on the website. They're on Spotify, Apple, wherever listeners get their podcasts. And you know, you can have a new series of parents listening to that year after year. Um, which is kind of cool. So, you know, when I was actually thinking about what were my favorites and I couldn't pick one either. So I think about two. One was one of our more recent ones. It was about adding girls flag football as a sport, and that just stands out because the two guests were athletic director Heather Lewis and coach Chris Eden. And man, the passion they have for that and the excitement. And just to hear the number of Seneca Valley students that are involved and want to become involved with that, that just stood out. That was interesting. And I think one one maybe about a year ago, just because it was a unique guest, it was a ten year old. We were talking about Haine Elementary having a Best Buddies program, and there was a, um, fourth grader named Lucy who was so eloquent in the way she spoke. I mean, I don't know how if you're nervous right now, being on a podcast when I was ten years old, I would have been freaking out. But the way she handled herself and how good she was just really stood out to me. And that's a testament to all the ages of students at Seneca Valley. How impressive they are. So that was pretty cool. Um, looking back at all the episodes, I know your track tracking data. Um, which are the most downloaded, most listened to? What can you tell us about the history and performance? 

00:05:40:01 - 00:07:35:04
Tiffany Hernandez: Sure. So, you know, all of our podcasts have been well received. Um, in fact, you know, our podcast, uh, Voices podcast has won several awards since its inception, um, through the National School Public Relations Association, also known as NSPRA, and also through the Pennsylvania School Public Relations Association known as PenSPRA. And we've had awards that include an Award of Excellence through NSPRA . Now, an award of excellence that is the highest tier that you can get. So it was a real honor to be able to receive that award. Um, and then we've also had awards through um, NSPRA's  publications and digital media contests, and we've had awards of honor and merit through PenSPRA as well. So, um, it's just been great to be able to showcase our podcast episodes and know that these are, you know, award-winning. And it's really been well received. But, um, to talk about the top five downloads, these are, um, in order of the top five. So our first one would be "The Return to School: Overview and Preparation with Dr. Tracy Vitale." The second one would be "Good to Know Safety and Security information with Officer Abigail Evans." The third would be "Performing Arts at SV: Proud of the Past. Excited to move Forward with Mr. Varden Armstrong." Number four would be "My Baby is Headed to Kindergarten, Now What? Preparing for Kindergarten with Principal Dr. Kristen White. And the fifth would be "Introducing the Inaugural Seneca Valley Best Buddies walk with Dr. Kathy Mahon and Seneca Valley fourth grader Lucy Martsolf", which is the one that you had just mentioned. 

00:07:36:04 - 00:07:57:16
Jeff Krakoff: Awesome. So it's always fun to look at the past, but let's talk about the future. You know, once we get past this 100th episode. I know that you sent out a survey to parents to to get their input as to what do they want to hear? What do they want us to talk about? Can you share some of the highlights and feedback that you received from that survey? 

00:07:58:01 - 00:09:33:11
Tiffany Hernandez: Yeah, absolutely. Now, we wanted to send out, you know, a survey to our staff and parents to really collect their feedback and learn what they want to hear in a future podcast episodes, because that's our audience, right? So we really wanted to gather their input. And our goal was just to really look at the insights, gather additional ideas that can help us plan for the future and highlight, um, you know, stories and topics and, you know, the voices that really matter most to our school community. Um, our survey results showed some really interesting data. When we asked what types of podcast episodes that people enjoy the most, majority actually said interviews with staff, followed by like a behind the scenes insight on SV programs, interviews with students, and upcoming programs or activities. Uh, When we asked about what topics they'd like to hear more about. The top responses were academics and curriculum, staff features, behind the scenes that said events, student services, and policies and procedures. So really, you know, a wide net of information. But this is really going to help us to understand what people want to hear more about. And that way we can tailor episodes more to, you know, what our listeners want to hear. So we're we're excited to move forward and start preparing for next year. 

00:09:33:18 - 00:10:11:14
Jeff Krakoff: Yeah. And just so everybody knows, Tiffany is the person that actually decides the topics who's going to be on the podcast and does a really good job of just preparing me with, you know, some bullet line items with, hey, here's where to steer the conversation. And then I like to just do my thing and ask questions as if I were a student or parent and really didn't know much about the topic. And, uh, so with that in mind, based on the feedback you've gotten from the survey, what's what do we have to look forward to in future episodes you'll be sending me? 

00:10:12:16 - 00:12:00:18
Tiffany Hernandez: Yeah, sure. We're super excited to prepare for next year and moving forward. Um, so based on our survey results about what listeners are most interested in, we're going to be offering a variety of podcasts covering topics like interviews with staff members, coaches, students. Uh, we'll also be shining a light on our academics and curriculum. Special programs are performing arts department, safety and security and a lot more. And sometimes, Jeff, you know, some of our topics just come up out of the blue when we're like, you know what? This is a great idea. You know, um, for instance, the flag football that we aired that during Women's History Month. So we really wanted to tailor, you know, a female sport to, you know, like Women's History Month. So sometimes things happen that aren't exactly planned for, you know, a year in advance, but sometimes they actually end up being the best ones, which, um, is a lot of fun. Um, you know, so again, we're currently planning, you know, for next year, but, um, actually, up next, what listeners can expect is a feature on our cyber program, and that is our Seneca Valley Academy of Choice. So this episode is going to offer an overview of the program, um, highlight available options and share important details about summer camp registration, which actually closes on June 13th. So there's still some time to register. But, you know, I know parents and, you know, are thinking about where my what my kid is going to do in the summer and, you know, things to keep them busy and things like that. So I think this will be a really great episode for parents to listen to as well. 

00:12:01:01 - 00:12:10:24
Jeff Krakoff: All right. I do know that there's going to be some celebration, uh, for the 100th episode. Tell us a little bit about what the plan is. 

00:12:11:14 - 00:13:23:12
Tiffany Hernandez: Yeah. So we were thinking about unique ways that we could celebrate our 100th episode. That's a big deal for us. Um, and so many people have been a part of that journey and, you know, so many voices on this podcast. So that's really what we're celebrating. So what we're going to do is we're inviting former guests from our podcast episodes to a special celebration at the district Administrative office on Friday, April 25th. And we're basically just celebrating this milestone with some light refreshments, sweet treats. We're going to have a big group photo and, um, you know, really talk to to those who help bring all these stories to life and, you know, maybe do some one on one interviews with them and just really hear their insights about, um, you know, the journey of voices and maybe collaborate on different ways that we can, um, work on some new episodes in the future. You know, there's always new things happening, new programs happening. So, um, we're excited to get everyone together that has made Voices what it is. 

00:13:23:25 - 00:13:31:08
Jeff Krakoff: It sounds awesome. So before I let you go, is there anything else you'd like to add about the Voices podcast? 

00:13:32:00 - 00:14:30:19
Tiffany Hernandez: You know, Jeff, we're just we're really grateful. Um, how well received our Voices podcast has been. Um, I think it's as a parent, it's a great resource to have. And, you know, I love the fact that, you know, when you're talking with someone, you know, through a podcast, it's so it's very honest. It's transparent. It's not something that you're you're reading. It's something you're listening to. So it's a lot easier to, um, get that information sometimes because sometimes you're in a hurry, you're on the go and you want to listen to something as you're, you know, taking a walk or anything like that. So it's a great resource that we've been able to utilize to get information across and share really interesting stories about what's going on in the district, what our students are involved in, what they're doing. And, um, just wonderful information all around. 

00:14:31:09 - 00:14:45:13
Jeff Krakoff: That's great. So I know I'm looking forward to episode 101 coming up soon, but that this has been Tiffany Hernandez, content marketing specialist with Seneca Valley School District. Thanks so much for your thoughts on the podcast. 

00:14:45:18 - 00:14:46:08
Tiffany Hernandez: Thanks, Jeff. 

00:14:46:21 - 00:14:47:12
Jeff Krakoff: Take care.