Granville students interview, make podcast series with Paralympian Jessica Heims
For Granville Middle School seventh graders, Friday's English language arts class was like no other.
Teacher James Browder's classes interviewed two-time Paralympic discus thrower Jessica Heims via Zoom as a way to further connect with a book students read over the summer, "The Running Dream," a novel about a girl who loses a leg in a car crash and learns to run again.
It wasn't a typical assignment, and that's exactly why the students loved it.
"I feel like it was kind of fun. Usually when you're in ELA, you're reading and writing essays, but it was kind of cool to talk to the real person," student Cruz Gibson said.
Students spent weeks researching and learning everything they could about the Iowa athlete. Heims lost her left leg below the knee as a toddler as the result of amniotic band syndrome, a condition that occurs when the lining of the amniotic sac is damaged during pregnancy and string-like strands of tissue entangle the fetus. She spoke openly as students asked about her life as an amputee and her experiences at the Paralympic games in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
The wisdom Heims shared about overcoming challenges and her amputation making her who she is resonated with the students. Student Olivia Finney shared after that class she learned "you just have to be confident no matter what you look like because most people don't really care about that."
Conley King, another student, said he'll remember Heims resilience.
"There's obstacles in life, and sometimes you have to adapt, and even if they're big obstacles, it can be a part of who you are," he said.
In a interview Monday with The Advocate, Heims said she has spoken with students before at her alma mater in Iowa and enjoys creating a space where kids feel comfortable ask questions. Talking to a real-life person who has experienced the same situation students have read about is a way to further connect with the material, Heims said.
"Growing up as the only amputee in my community or at my school, I had the opportunity to teach others around me, and I saw the growth that they had and the ways that my story impacted them," she said. "Knowing that I could be that person for another school — even a school not even in my own state — but I could be a connection for those kids and knowing how much that affected the people in my life … I just knew I had to."
But Browder's classes won't be the only ones to benefit from Heims interviews. The students will take the audio from the three interview sessions and release them as podcasts later this fall.
This was the second year Browder's seventh-grade students have spoken with a Paralympian. After reading the book in summer 2022, Browder said his students were struggling to connect with the material. He realized it was a perfect opportunity for them to learn empathy, one of the qualities highlighted in the district's Portrait of a Graduate.
Browder researched Paralympic runners and found Richard Browne, American sprint runner, who won a Olympic silver medal in the 100-meter event in 2012. After Browder reached out via Instagram, Browne spoken to ELA classes last fall. The classes turned the interviews into a podcast series on Spotify.
Browder said for lessons to have staying power with students, learning has to be an experience. Authentic projects give students autonomy and agency drive education, he said, and this project checks all those boxes for students.
"It gives them choice. It puts them in the driver's seat and allows them to make decisions," he said. "It's a living, breathing thing that will go out in the community and out in the world that people will digest. It gives someone access to this amazing person who's overcome so much to do amazing things in the world. I think that's the magic sauce that makes it all happen."
mdevito@gannett.com
740-607-2175
Twitter: @MariaDeVito13
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Granville students interview, make podcast with Paralympian
