May 2, 2025 • 8 mins
What happens when students turn their digital skills toward preserving family histories? Something magical, according to veteran educator Wesley Fryer. Speaking from the North Carolina Mid-Level Educators Conference in Charlotte, Fryer shares his 30-year journey in education and his current role teaching STEM subjects at Providence Day School.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book
Company.
We are here at the NCMLE, theNorth Carolina Mid-Level
Educators Conference inCharlotte, north Carolina.
I am here with Wes Flyer ofProvidence Day School.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome, wes Welcome yes, I'm actually Fryer Fryar,
it's like a chicken, that'sright, wes Friar.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I have flown before, but Wes tell us a bit about
yourself and what you're doinghere at NCMLE this year.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, I am a middle school teacher at Providence Day
here in Charlotte and I'm aSTEM teacher, so I teach
primarily computer programming,web design, design and, of
course, we call computerapplications, which is media
literacy.
But I'm really excited to behere for professional
development.
I've, you know, spent 30 yearsin education, most of that in
public ed, and this is only mythird year to be here in
(00:59):
Charlotte, and so the chance tonetwork, to hear speakers, to
you know, get to learn about newthings, like what you all are
doing with podcasting.
I love podcasting, I love mediaproduction.
I think empowering kids withthe ability to communicate with
a variety of media today issuper important, and so those
are some things I'm passionateabout.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
That's wonderful.
So what got you into this spaceof podcasting, as well as the
things that you're doing in thecomputer science realm?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Well, I'm kind of an old guy now.
So when Web 2.0 first startedback in the day, this was in the
mid to late 2000s andpodcasting became a thing.
I actually learned aboutpodcasting for the classroom
through a New York Times article.
There was a wonderful teachernamed Bob Sprankle up in Wells,
maine and he had the Room 208podcast and the New York Times
(01:49):
featured him and his kids didcorners.
They called it and differentepisodes and I mean from things
about the word of the week tolike they found an animal at the
local shelter that they wouldtell about so that they could be
adopted to what they werelearning about in social studies
, like all kinds of things.
But they were using this mediumand so I started learning how
(02:13):
to podcast and did that withsome of the classes that my own
children were in and became aneducational podcaster, and I've
just loved podcasting ever since.
I mean, I listened to podcaststhis morning, you know, getting
ready to come here.
So I'm a consumer of podcastsbut I'm also a producer and I
really think that, as a medium,podcasting offers so many
(02:37):
benefits that it's not areplacement entirely for
traditional media, but it reallyoffers a way for us to enrich
our learning, connect with otherpeople and, just you know, fuel
curiosity that we have, butalso a desire that we have to
connect with others, forinstance, that are professionals
, and so I've learned so muchfrom other teachers over the
(03:00):
years and I just I lovepodcasting years and I, just I
love podcasting.
I love it as a medium and Iconsider myself to be a real
beneficiary of the platformbecause it's taught me so many
things and allowed me to connectwith so many people over the
years.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
At American Book Company in Woodstock, georgia,
we are committed to yourstudents success.
As you can see behind me, wehave our workbooks and we have
online testing and ebooks thatgo on fancy iPads over here, for
instance.
They're all designed to helpyour students succeed and have
higher test scores on theirhigh-stakes assessments.
Give us a call 888-264-5877, orfind us on the web, abck12.com,
(03:40):
and you can receive a freetrial or a free preview book of
your choice.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Bye, bye.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
That's wonderful.
Wes, Can you tell us a storydealing with podcasting where
you felt like, wow, that wasreally impactful.
What happened today?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Well, I guess I'll talk about oral history projects
, because now, teaching middleschool here in Charlotte, I have
an opportunity for thiscomputer applications class to
really kind of set thecurriculum and one of the main
projects we do is a family oralhistory project.
And so I remember and I've done, you know, done these now for a
(04:17):
number of years stories thatparents have come back and told
me, because our, my studentswill learn, we'll listen to
stories from like story core andwe'll get ideas and practice.
We'll interview each other.
How do you conduct an interview?
How do you have a goodopen-ended question?
How do you ask a follow-upquestion?
(04:39):
But then they'll interviewsomeone in their family, and so,
just, one of the best things iswhen parents come back and tell
me you know, our daughter, ourson, you know, interviewed my
mother, their grandparent, andthey told stories that I'd never
heard before, you know, andthey opened up about things.
Sometimes they're veteranstories, sometimes they're just
about growing up, but I justlove the insight that that gives
(05:04):
into the lives of students.
It allows us to grow closertogether, but I think it also
just, you know, there's a richcollection of skills that
students can develop and I don'tthink we spend enough time
honestly like listening to eachother and telling stories, and
so we make that an emphasispoint and it's really a
(05:26):
wonderful thing for the parentsand the family to get involved
and then for that assignment tobe more than just something
we're doing to get a grade inclass but, like I share with
them, you literally might berecording a story that your
children or your grandchildrenwould listen to and you're
preserving history and it'simportant work and it's
(05:47):
connected to the family and thecommunity.
So those kinds of storiesreally, you know, warm my heart
and give me incentive to keepdoing that kind of work.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
That's wonderful, wes .
Wow, that's really profound thethings that you can do simply
with podcasting to reach othergenerations in the family.
That's fantastic, wes.
Can you tell us a bit aboutwhat you'd like to say to the
NCMLE community, something youwant them to have as a takeaway
from this conference?
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Well, I just think collaboration is essential.
You know we are in a difficulttime in education.
We have been for quite a while.
I was in Oklahoma for 16 yearsand came here to North Carolina
and many of the challenges thatwe face are similar.
But I think that the power ofnetworking and connecting with
(06:38):
other educators is just huge.
I was a participant in a lot ofed camps back in the day.
Conferences like this thatallow us to hear speakers and
learn about resources are great,but also just being able to
connect.
So I guess I would encouragepeople to connect and network
and then also find otherteachers that are focused on
(07:00):
empowering student voice.
That's what you're doing righthere by interviewing teachers is
you're amplifying voices andyou are working to, I think,
empower teachers to do that inthe classroom with their
students, and I think that'sjust absolutely fantastic
because with testing and witheverything that goes on,
sometimes we can lose sight ofthat and there's a number of
(07:21):
teachers that are reallypassionate about that and I
think, being able to sort ofconnect with your tribe and then
be equipped with maybe literalequipment and resources and be
equipped with maybe literalequipment and resources, but
just also those connections toother teachers who share a
passion for that is pricelessand that's one of the best
things about coming to aconference like this.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
That's wonderful Wes Well.
Thank you so much.
Wes Fryer with Providence DaySchool in North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Hey, thanks for having me on.
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book
Company.
We are here at the NCMLE, theNorth Carolina Mid-Level
Educators Conference inCharlotte, north Carolina.
I am here with Wes Flyer ofProvidence Day School.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome, wes Welcome yes, I'm actually Fryer Fryar,
it's like a chicken, that'sright, wes Friar.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I have flown before, but Wes tell us a bit about
yourself and what you're doinghere at NCMLE this year.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, I am a middle school teacher at Providence Day
here in Charlotte and I'm aSTEM teacher, so I teach
primarily computer programming,web design, design and, of
course, we call computerapplications, which is media
literacy.
But I'm really excited to behere for professional
development.
I've, you know, spent 30 yearsin education, most of that in
public ed, and this is only mythird year to be here in
(00:59):
Charlotte, and so the chance tonetwork, to hear speakers, to
you know, get to learn about newthings, like what you all are
doing with podcasting.
I love podcasting, I love mediaproduction.
I think empowering kids withthe ability to communicate with
a variety of media today issuper important, and so those
are some things I'm passionateabout.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
That's wonderful.
So what got you into this spaceof podcasting, as well as the
things that you're doing in thecomputer science realm?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Well, I'm kind of an old guy now.
So when Web 2.0 first startedback in the day, this was in the
mid to late 2000s andpodcasting became a thing.
I actually learned aboutpodcasting for the classroom
through a New York Times article.
There was a wonderful teachernamed Bob Sprankle up in Wells,
maine and he had the Room 208podcast and the New York Times
(01:49):
featured him and his kids didcorners.
They called it and differentepisodes and I mean from things
about the word of the week tolike they found an animal at the
local shelter that they wouldtell about so that they could be
adopted to what they werelearning about in social studies
, like all kinds of things.
But they were using this mediumand so I started learning how
(02:13):
to podcast and did that withsome of the classes that my own
children were in and became aneducational podcaster, and I've
just loved podcasting ever since.
I mean, I listened to podcaststhis morning, you know, getting
ready to come here.
So I'm a consumer of podcastsbut I'm also a producer and I
really think that, as a medium,podcasting offers so many
(02:37):
benefits that it's not areplacement entirely for
traditional media, but it reallyoffers a way for us to enrich
our learning, connect with otherpeople and, just you know, fuel
curiosity that we have, butalso a desire that we have to
connect with others, forinstance, that are professionals
, and so I've learned so muchfrom other teachers over the
(03:00):
years and I just I lovepodcasting years and I, just I
love podcasting.
I love it as a medium and Iconsider myself to be a real
beneficiary of the platformbecause it's taught me so many
things and allowed me to connectwith so many people over the
years.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
At American Book Company in Woodstock, georgia,
we are committed to yourstudents success.
As you can see behind me, wehave our workbooks and we have
online testing and ebooks thatgo on fancy iPads over here, for
instance.
They're all designed to helpyour students succeed and have
higher test scores on theirhigh-stakes assessments.
Give us a call 888-264-5877, orfind us on the web, abck12.com,
(03:40):
and you can receive a freetrial or a free preview book of
your choice.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Bye, bye.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
That's wonderful.
Wes, Can you tell us a storydealing with podcasting where
you felt like, wow, that wasreally impactful.
What happened today?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Well, I guess I'll talk about oral history projects
, because now, teaching middleschool here in Charlotte, I have
an opportunity for thiscomputer applications class to
really kind of set thecurriculum and one of the main
projects we do is a family oralhistory project.
And so I remember and I've done, you know, done these now for a
(04:17):
number of years stories thatparents have come back and told
me, because our, my studentswill learn, we'll listen to
stories from like story core andwe'll get ideas and practice.
We'll interview each other.
How do you conduct an interview?
How do you have a goodopen-ended question?
How do you ask a follow-upquestion?
(04:39):
But then they'll interviewsomeone in their family, and so,
just, one of the best things iswhen parents come back and tell
me you know, our daughter, ourson, you know, interviewed my
mother, their grandparent, andthey told stories that I'd never
heard before, you know, andthey opened up about things.
Sometimes they're veteranstories, sometimes they're just
about growing up, but I justlove the insight that that gives
(05:04):
into the lives of students.
It allows us to grow closertogether, but I think it also
just, you know, there's a richcollection of skills that
students can develop and I don'tthink we spend enough time
honestly like listening to eachother and telling stories, and
so we make that an emphasispoint and it's really a
(05:26):
wonderful thing for the parentsand the family to get involved
and then for that assignment tobe more than just something
we're doing to get a grade inclass but, like I share with
them, you literally might berecording a story that your
children or your grandchildrenwould listen to and you're
preserving history and it'simportant work and it's
(05:47):
connected to the family and thecommunity.
So those kinds of storiesreally, you know, warm my heart
and give me incentive to keepdoing that kind of work.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
That's wonderful, wes .
Wow, that's really profound thethings that you can do simply
with podcasting to reach othergenerations in the family.
That's fantastic, wes.
Can you tell us a bit aboutwhat you'd like to say to the
NCMLE community, something youwant them to have as a takeaway
from this conference?
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Well, I just think collaboration is essential.
You know we are in a difficulttime in education.
We have been for quite a while.
I was in Oklahoma for 16 yearsand came here to North Carolina
and many of the challenges thatwe face are similar.
But I think that the power ofnetworking and connecting with
(06:38):
other educators is just huge.
I was a participant in a lot ofed camps back in the day.
Conferences like this thatallow us to hear speakers and
learn about resources are great,but also just being able to
connect.
So I guess I would encouragepeople to connect and network
and then also find otherteachers that are focused on
(07:00):
empowering student voice.
That's what you're doing righthere by interviewing teachers is
you're amplifying voices andyou are working to, I think,
empower teachers to do that inthe classroom with their
students, and I think that'sjust absolutely fantastic
because with testing and witheverything that goes on,
sometimes we can lose sight ofthat and there's a number of
(07:21):
teachers that are reallypassionate about that and I
think, being able to sort ofconnect with your tribe and then
be equipped with maybe literalequipment and resources and be
equipped with maybe literalequipment and resources, but
just also those connections toother teachers who share a
passion for that is pricelessand that's one of the best
things about coming to aconference like this.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
That's wonderful Wes Well.
Thank you so much.
Wes Fryer with Providence DaySchool in North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Hey, thanks for having me on.
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