Pequannock Township School District Superintendent Michael Portis hosted a podcast on Sept. 30 with two seniors, Bella and Sofia, about a student-produced districtwide promotional video intended to showcase classroom life, sports, clubs and other events across the district’s five schools.

Portis said he was “very excited” about the project’s student-led origin and praised the students’ authenticity. "You're authentic. You're living it. This is where you've grown up and and where you're attending school," he said on the podcast.

Bella, a senior, described the project as “basically a district wide promotional video, which is going to include a basically, a montage of our whole school district.” Sofia, also a senior, said the video will highlight common themes and differences across the schools and “bring everyone together.” The students said the project began last year, when a marketing-class video for a single school prompted them to expand the effort to include all five schools.

The students said one goal is to strengthen a district-wide identity around the Panther mascot and to create a positive digital footprint for the district and its students. "We just wanna, like, leave the legacy and show people, like, you can, like, do what you, like, put your mind to," Bella said. The students also noted the project aims to produce content that engages parents, alumni and community members on social media platforms.

Portis and the students discussed how the district account and the PTHS Nation student feed are used to reach larger audiences. Portis encouraged the students’ efforts to create positive social media content and suggested the finished video could be a lasting reference for current students and alumni.

The podcast also touched on students’ awareness of the consequences of a digital footprint and the potential for a curated portfolio of work to support future college or job applications. Portis said listeners may contact him with questions about the project and he would forward inquiries to the students.

The project remains in production; the students described it as ambitious and said it has required coordination across principals and schools. No formal board action, funding decision or timeline for release was announced on the podcast.