"Intermission for July & Updates for 2026-27" - GIPS Cast, Ep. 075

Exciting stories and a new format are on the horizon for 'The GIPS Cast'! 

Mitchell Roush, GIPS Communications Director, joins the podcast to share a brief public service announcement in two parts. 

Part One:  'The GIPS Cast' will be on a brief intermission for the month of July 2026. 

Part Two:  We're updating the podcast format and storytelling focus starting in August 2026. 

Hear Mitch's update for the full rundown of what's next for the podcast. 

Even with our month long intermission and new formatting on the horizon, we will continue anchoring each episode with the voices and stories of our staff and students. Because it’s our staff and students who make Grand Island Public Schools a great place to be. 

Don’t go anywhere listeners!  Our break is just for the month of July. 

In the meantime, you’re welcome to listen, or perhaps RElisten, to our backlog of 75 episodes.  As we ramp up for the 2026-27 school year, we’ll be back with some more great stories from our district. 

See you soon! 

Listen to the latest episode on the player below or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.

(Transcript may be found below the episode player.)

#WeAreGIPS  

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: 

Podcast Intro  00:00

This is Grand Island Public Schools podcast, and these are our stories. We are learners, we are educators in teaching hearts as well as minds. We are 10,000 diverse voices, and we're changing the world together, one classroom at a time. These are our stories. We are GIPS. We are GIPS. Somos que efe ese. We are GIPS. Somos GIPS. W e are GIPS. A nd this is 'The GIPS Cast'.

 

Mitchell Roush  00:31

Welcome back to 'The GIPS Cast' , a conversation-based podcast exploring the voices of Grand Island Public Schools in Nebraska. I'm your host Mitchell Roush, the Communications Director here at GIPS, and as always, I am grateful to bring to you new stories from all corners of our district, because here we are driven by our mission of "Every Student, Every Day, A Success!".

 

Mitchell Roush  01:04

I have a brief public service announcement to share with you listeners, but it's good news, though. So don't worry, this PSA has two parts. Here's how it breaks down.

 

Mitchell Roush  01:17

PART ONE: 'The GIPS Cast'  will be on a brief intermission for the month of July 2026.

 

Mitchell Roush  01:26

For the last three and a half years, this podcast has brought you, our listeners, 75 episodes featuring classroom visits, incredible educators, students discovering some really cool things, explorations of curriculum and projects and important announcements, conversations about budgets and programs, and a whole lot more. And each of those episodes features the voices of the very people who make Grand Island Public Schools a great place to be. We're proud of this podcast and the voices and the stories that we've shared, and now for the month of July, we're going to take a brief pause. This break will only be for a month. We'll be back in August with some more immersive stories from our district. So, why are we taking this brief intermission? I'm glad you asked.

 

Mitchell Roush  02:19

That segue takes us to PART NUMBER TWO:  We're updating the format of the GIPS cast, starting in August 2026 For the upcoming school year, we will be adding a video component to this podcast. We'll also be focusing the whole year's worth of podcast content on one central topic, belonging.

 

Mitchell Roush  02:45

More specifically, how the concept of belonging connects to our GIPS strategic plan. Because we know that if our students feel like they have a sense of belonging at school, they'll feel more confident, they'll explore more school activities, and they'll grow and learn at their best, and to be honest, the same can be said for all of our staff. All 1600 of our certified and classified staff deserve to feel like they belong here at GIPS, and with our strategic plan prioritizing student growth and continuing to improve attendance.

 

Mitchell Roush  03:20

We believe that diving into the concept of belonging will help strengthen those connections, and while we dish on belonging for this podcast, we'll try out some different formats, some rapid fire questions, we'll even explore some new guest hosts, and some other cool stuff along the way, but even with our month long intermission and the new formatting on the horizon, one thing will stay the same. We will anchor each episode by featuring the voices and stories of our staff and students, because, as I mentioned before, it's our staff and our students who make Grand Island Public S chools, a great place to be.

 

Mitchell Roush  04:03

So don't go anywhere, listeners. Our break is just for the month of July, an intermission, if you will. In the meantime, you're welcome to listen to, or perhaps re-listen to, our backlog of 75 episodes, and as we ramp up for the 2026 27 school year. We will be back with some more great stories from our district.

 

Mitchell Roush  04:29

So, thank you for listening to 'The GIPS Cast'  and we will see you soon! 

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