Story Builders Teen Podcasts Usher Fresh Opportunities for Building a Regional Future

As we embark upon these fresh days of the new year the spotlight is shining brightly upon an innovative partnership between  The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Great Lakes Bay Region and Team One Credit Union to deliver a uniquely designed teen podcasting program titled Story Builders.

Five Boys & Girls Clubs in the region are now producing their own podcasts, with teens hosting the episodes and interviewing guests. Since the program’s launch, State Rep. Timothy Beson, Rep. Amos O’Neal, Saginaw City Councilman Bill Ostash, and School Board Trustee Kevin Rooker have all appeared as guests on the shows. According to CEO Lynn Pavlawk, the program has been a runaway success, and Team One Credit Union will help elevate the experience for youths.

“When we introduced our teens to podcasting this summer, we could never have anticipated how much they would love it,” Pavlawk said. “Our young leaders take great pride in the episodes they produce, and Team One was an ideal partner to help us expand the program. They have an incredible communications team, making their “professional storytellers” perfect mentors for the teenage podcasters. As the first official sponsor of all five shows, Team One’s staff have been visiting each Club in-person to coach the youth members.”

“Team One Credit Union is proud to support the Boys and Girls Club Story Builder Program,” Team One CEO Derrick Barber notes. “Through this new podcasting club, students are actively engaged as they explore topics they are passionate about, while enhancing their listening skills and storytelling abilities.  We are thrilled to partner with the Boys and Girls Club of the Great Lakes Bay Region in support of this interactive learning initiative.”

“We piloted the program at our Saginaw Teen Center over by the YMCA and it exceeded our expectations in terms of how quickly the kids took to it,” explains Brandon Kathman, Director of Marketing & Communications for The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Great Lakes Bay Region. “It is serving as a great way to facilitate some very in-depth conversations and some silly ones as well, and the impact has been incredible because these podcasts are avenues of expression our kids identify with and take pride in.”

Kathman says this program is something they intend to rollout across the region and make available to all older members of The Boys & Girls Club. “We started this pilot program early in 2024 and rolled it out with five of our six clubs that we have in the Great Lakes Bay Region,” he continues. “We’re running the podcasts during the school year and summer months and collectively between all of the participating clubs we have between a dozen to two dozen teens currently participating per club.”

“We coach the kids on how to develop programming and mentor them on developing questions for their guests, content, and production,” he continues. “We want the kids cross-trained on all the equipment so they know it from the bottom up, and have partnered with Alex Alexandrou of the podcast "It's All Greek to Me. He brings a wealth of experience as a podcaster and educator and works with the Bay City school system. Because of his podcasting and educational background, he’s been wonderful at getting the kids acquainted with the equipment, and the kids have conversations with one another to finalize all details before bringing guests in to interview.”

Kathman says many of the teens are turning out to be natural-born hosts.

“A number of our young podcasters have really surprised us,” he enthusiastically notes. “ We don’t give out the full names of students involved with the Clubs, but for example Saria B out of the Stone School Club was only 15 years-old at the time and hosted an interview with State Rep Amos O’Neal. She’s a quiet kid generally speaking, so I was surprised when she volunteered to interview him and even more thrilled at how incredible her interview was.  She left an impression on the representative and I could not have been prouder about the way she conducted herself.  And we’re not talking softball questions. She came in with research and asked tough questions about economic challenges and opportunities in our city, which was fantastic.”

While each of the five clubs do their own podcasts, except for editing everything is left in the kids hands at the site level.  Kathman says plans exist to eventually involve them with editing the episodes as well, but currently the Boys & Girls Clubs are investing in tech labs for each of the clubs. Once they are up and running it will feature new opportunities for the clubs throughout the region.

“We leave all the topical material open to the kids and whatever topics they wish to explore,” notes Brandon. “We had an interesting one with the Pinconning Club, who wanted to talk about relationships in one of their podcasts.  Because we review each topic, we had a few questions about how specific they were going to get with this discussion because we didn’t want them broadcasting anybody’s personal business; but it ended up turning into an interesting conversation about relationships between middle schoolers. Being a few decades removed from middle school, it was enlightening to see how this younger generation approaches dating and consider it.”

“Each episode is wonderful in its own way because the guests learn about the kids as much as the kids learn. The Stone School club had a local journalist who works for Fox News come in because we pitched the idea of interviewing a professional interviewer,” he continues. “It turned out to be an interesting reversal of roles.”

“Team One has been wonderful to work with because we were seeking to partner not just with  someone willing to invest capital in the program, but who could also bring in relevant skills to take these podcasts to the next level.  They have a robust communications team and are preparing these kids for lifelong success where communication skills need to be front and center. They’ve been incredible helping the kids discuss best practices and methods for communicating a message.”

When asked about the biggest challenge involved with bringing these podcasts to full fruition, Kathman says it involves broadening public awareness about the multitude of services the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Great Lakes Bay Region offer to older kids in their teenage years. 

“As an organization I think we’ve been the best kept secret in the region for too long,” he reflects. “In terms of rolling out these podcasts on a regional scale the biggest challenge is balancing it with a multitude of other projects.”

“We spend a lot of time mentoring kids but tend to fall into or become generalized as being a child care organization, which is an essential part of our mission in terms of taking pride in what we can do for families by offering kids a safe place to go, or providing a hot meal; but the Great Lakes Bay region is holding all the cards for economic development and cultural renaissance, and I think a great future is in store for this region.  It’s incumbent for organizations like ours to prepare these kids to inherit that future. There’s tremendous opportunity on the horizon yet so many challenges that stand between what they inherit and what they benefit from that we that this very seriously. It’s why our programs are so targeted on preparing future leaders to succeed.”

Brandon notes how these Story Builders Podcasts can be heard on Apple, Spotify, and many streaming platforms. “In 2025 our organization wants to focus on our elder teen members,” he concludes. “We serve ages 6 to 18 and within many households a 15-yer old kid is considered old enough to be given a house key, so what our older members need is something like this experiential hands-on program to help them build and shape this bright future that will become theirs to inherit.”

Here are the links to the specific chapter podcasts:

Saginaw Teen Center: https://open.spotify.com/show/3uzsnWf1bgeLDQNjPIAiuH

Saginaw Stone: https://open.spotify.com/show/4etEY9rqqbBaUYjGtJrCep

Bay City: https://open.spotify.com/show/7jt6FWFq0nHHfmS6o4Ix4c

Essexville: https://open.spotify.com/show/3FN7qWWYaGyviPFjY7JmwS

Pinconning: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UIUNN8qOHxo5q496lcLor

Those interested in learning more about the Boys & Girls Clubs should visit boysandgirlsclubsglbr.com or call 989-321-9648.