Pardon My Take, Spittin’ Chiclets, This Past Weekend, are only a few of the millions of podcasts listened to today. Whether it’s listening to them on the way to work, while doing the dishes, or sitting down and relaxing, there’s not a time that a podcast can’t be heard. For JD Robinson and myself, we wanted to be able to bring what students at Greater Latrobe had to offer. We first saw the short interviews on YouTube held by Caleb Pressley and Glenny “Balls” Medoro, writers and reporters for the Hercules of social media, Barstool Sports. The duo created a show where celebrities, pro athletes, and many more were brought onto the show and asked ridiculous questions that could only make people laugh. JD and I knew that we enjoyed seeing those interviews and that we had an opportunity, being on the High Post staff, to give Latrobe content of the same kind. We realized that it would have to be school appropriate since it was going to be affiliated with school. So we brainstormed the idea of having a podcast that would give insight to individuals at our school that students, teachers, or parents may not have known about. We wanted to show a deeper and more meaningful side to high school, and we wanted everyone to be involved. We weren’t just going to interview the athletes, or the artists, or the musicians, we wanted everyone to be involved. From freshman all the way to seniors, we wanted the unique students to be shown on a stage. 

JD and I ran into a road block though, yes we had a plan on what we wanted the podcast to look like but we didn’t have an identity. The interview show we enjoyed so much was dubbed Sundae Conversations because they were released every Sunday and Glenny Balls was always eating an ice cream sundae during the interview. We wrestled with names first starting basic with names like “Cat Talk” or “Cat Chat”. But these names would be too basic and wouldn’t catch anyone’s attention. We moved to more sophisticated names like “Orange, Black, and Buzzin” and “The Litter Box”, both of which I liked a lot and felt they rolled off of the tongue nicely. “Orange, Black, and Buzzin” fit the Latrobe theme into it because of the colors and represented that our school was always “buzzing” with some sort of athletic, artistic, or musical highlight. Because of possible non-school appropriate innuendos it got shot down. “The Litter Box” was the name that was set to be our identity because we felt that it caught people’s attention and was meant to show that this is the show about the things you don’t see from looking outside, you need to go inside to the dirty and deep areas to find what the students and school is really about. It did get shot down as well because of the dirty feeling you get inside when you would say, “I’m watching “The Litter Box”.” Finally after much contemplating and help from Mrs. Houck and Mrs. Stallings, we were able to retain an identity and start something new at our school. This is when The Scratching Post was born. It was a name that rolled off of the tongue and had our goal hidden inside of it. When a cat scratches on its scratching post, it gets to deep areas and uncovers what the post is really made out of and shows what you normally wouldn’t see. That is the same for our podcast. We wanted to “scratch” at the students of Latrobe and unveil their talents and personalities you don’t experience from looking through a yearbook. 

With our identity and our vision decided, we started our show. Seeing classmates laugh and giggle at some bits and pieces shown on the morning announcements made us proud. I would look around and see people really listening to what was being said. This was us fulfilling our goal. To make the students heard and their lives and talents known. Even after we graduate, the show must go on. The legacy of The Scratching Post must continue to share the stories, talents, and most importantly the people of Greater Latrobe High School.