On April 3rd, 2024, eight members of Parkland’s yearbook, newspaper, and literary magazine qualified to compete in the Pennsylvania Student Press Association’s Student Journalism Contests State Finals. While five of the competitors found out their results on-site, three others had to wait nearly a month to find out their final placement. Last week, one of those three, Elsa Hoderewski of The Trumpet, was declared the State Championship in Podcasting. 

Hoderewski, who is the current podcast host of The Blare, only started podcasting a year ago. “I decided to get into podcasting as I thought it would be a unique and different experience that would be a good way to interact with students and people I may not typically interact with,” reveals Hoderewski. “I thought it could be a neat opportunity to represent different sides of Parkland and the community in an engaging manner.”

While her results would not come out until May 1st, Elsa competed alongside everyone else on April 3rd. “The completion entailed making a podcast based on the day competing at the PSPA state event,” described Hoderewski. “Ultimately, I decided I wanted to highlight what all PSPA does, and that became the theme of the podcast episode.” 

The final podcast was due on April 16th, with the results being released a few weeks afterward. When Elsa walked into class on May 1st, she was greeted with a celebration. “I was elated and extremely surprised,” recalls Hoderewski. “It was so rewarding after all the hard work that went into the podcast!” Her producer, The Trumpet Editor-in-Chief, Sarah George, was ecstatic for her successor, gushing, “I was obviously excited that Elsa had won; she always puts a ton of effort into the podcast and I thought this one really let her interviewing skills shine. I’m so proud of what she’s accomplished and how much she’s grown throughout our time working on the podcast.”

It remains to be seen if Elsa will compete in the podcast category again next year, as she will be Editor-in-Chief next year, with rising sophomore Teagan Tremba taking over as podcast host. However, Elsa did leave advice for aspiring podcasters, proclaiming that, “I would tell podcasters to just go for it! Find a topic or story you’re interested in telling and tell it. You should be sure to own your own spin on the story and really try to connect with the listeners.”

The Trumpet would like to congratulate Elsa on her accomplishments.