BLECKLEY COUNTY, Ga. — A report from Statista says podcast popularity has been on the rise over the last decade, and one Central Georgia high school launched a student-run podcast this year.
It's called the The Royal Rumble.
English teacher Lillie Douglas created it when they returned from winter break.
"I felt like there was a connection being missed among our students and our staff and events that were happening in the school," Douglas said.
She has about 10 students on staff.
"I joined because I wanted to connect more with the teachers and the students that I didn't know," sophomore Amauria Farrow said.
"I knew that it was a great way to meet people and to learn more that's going on with our school," sophomore Harley Harper said.
Douglas gives out assignments every week, and each student has a role to help put it together.
"I'm given a person that Ms. Douglas wants to interview, she sends me the email and I go out and I ask them questions," Junior Dustin Yearty said.
"I piece it together and I cut out any spaces or any mumbling or anything or like blank spaces and then I add in some transitions and make sure everything is clear then I email it back to Ms. Douglas," sophomore Emily Fournier said.
"We have people in the school who recommend students and staff and then we talk about what they do here, what they've contributed, how they've encouraged or done something that needed recognition and we celebrate that on the podcast," Douglas said.
"It's no cost, so I mean we're doing this with ourselves like our phones and just our voices," Harper said.
They put out about three episodes a week that are about 5 minutes long. Douglas said their number of followers have grown since they started in January.
"Currently a little over 200, and we average about 70 plays per episode, but it just keeps increasing. So I hope in the future we just keep going up," Douglas said.
You can find the Royal Rumble on the Spotify app by searching "BC Royal Rumble."