Two Harrogate students and their politics teacher have featured in the latest episode of the BBC podcast Americast.
Pippa Linden Howe and Hannah Reinsch, who are year 13 students at the St Aidan’s & St John Fisher Associated Sixth Form, joined teacher Emily Reynard as guests on the programme hosted by Jon Sopel and Emily Maitlis.
It was released on Friday and is available to download for a year.
The BBC invited them on the show after Pippa and Hannah emailed the hosts asking to take part.
They discussed US politics with Sopel and Maitlis during the podcast.
Pippa said it was a “dream come true” to appear on the show.
To keep up with the dizzying rollercoaster of stateside politics, Miss Reynard encourages students to listen to podcasts. Sopel, the BBC’s North America editor, described the teacher as ‘inspiring’.
Lockdown boost
Miss Reynard, who has taught history and politics at St Aidan’s since 2015, praised the students for their performance on the show.
She added:
“Jon Sopel emailed afterwards to say thank you for coming on the show.
“It’s been really exciting for all them and was the morale boost they needed at the moment, so having it happen has made a big difference.”
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Emily Reynard who teaches history and politics at St Aidan’s.
Pippa has received an offer from Oxford University to study languages this year and Hannah plans to study politics but has yet to decide which offer to accept.
Miss Reynard said studying politics at A-Level gave them a good grounding.
She added:
“They are really proactive and engaged with it.
“Politics as an A-Level gives them the skills to articulate their own ideas and listen to each other’s without getting confrontational.
“There are differing opinions and they are passionate, but being in the class helps them explain to each other why they disagree rather than it getting heated.”
Miss Reynard said the unpredictability of politics over the past few years had made it a “cool” subject to study.
“The American side is so current and exciting – so by default, it’s cool! But some of my friends might be rolling their eyes when I describe politics as cool!”
