Not to be too obvious here, but the COVID-19 crisis has really screwed up a lot of teenaged lives. In this episode, six students from Talawanda High School, in Oxford, Ohio, talk about how the pandemic has affected them—academically, socially, mentally—and what the experience might mean for Generation Z as a whole.

The group also looks at how local, state, and federal officials have responded to the crisis and asks, “What can we learn from all this?”    

Interview recorded May 8, 2020, with everyone calling into Eliot Berberich’s home studio via Google Meet.

The podcasters:

Episode producer and host Eliot Berberich is a freshman at Talawanda High School, but already an experienced student journalist and podcaster.

I’m Kel Fisher, finishing up my junior at THS, and I’m involved in Mock Trial, theatre, choir, and a capella. I write for our school newspaper and hope to go to college for creative writing, history, and film.

My name is Jean Pateman. I am a junior at Talawanda H.S., I participate in our Environmental Sciences Club, Model UN, Mock Trial, and I am on the Varsity Field Hockey team.

THS senior Ella Cope is the President of the Talawanda Diversity Club (an activist group and Gay Straight Alliance) and a member of the Chamber Singers, National Honor Society, and Setting Stone Literary Magazine. She is a Gold Award Girl Scout and organized the creation of the first public mural in Oxford Ohio depicting local civil rights history.

Carly Goodman is a sophomore at Talawanda High School. She is involved in the Setting Stone Liberal Arts Magazine, Talawanda Tribune, and her school’s Hope Squad.

Peter Averbach is an A-average student who is involved in many extracurricular activities, including  running a Film Club, podcasting, and making YouTube videos.