Fully Charged

Isa Monastero, a finalist for a 2026 Flinn Scholarship in an interview with Yvette Rangel.

If you were luck to be in Kendall Tobin's history class you would have seen a large fish talk at the back of the class. But few have realized that his passion for fish--he sponsors an Aquatic Club at school-- takes him to Alaska every year on a dangerous mission to catch salmon. Last year his crew picked up 8,000 pounds of fish. Tobin is also a football coach. On this podcast you'll hear how he go...

In May 2025, a week before the end of the school year, we caught up with Matt Evangelista, math teacher, who now moves on to medical school. Mr. E was once a student at Benjamin Franklin High School. In fact he was in the Franklin school system since 5th grade. In this podcast he explains his path from Grade school to High School to Med school.

A documentary-styled podcast recorded in the new ceramics class at Benjamin Franklin High School. Coach Shannon Petersen who teaches art and ceramics in a conversation with hosts Marc Beasley and Chase Smith.

Our guest is sophomore Madi Oliver, in a conversation with assistant athletic director Marc Beasley, and coach Jace Smith. In March 2025, Madi won D2 State Championship in Girls Wrestling. She talked about how she landed in this sport almost by accident, and what it takes to compete in wrestling. Women's wrestling, considered the fastest growing sport for young women in in the US, is an NCAA s...

Though they work in tandem as history and english teachers Amy Severson's and Beata Botham's paths to teaching couldn't have been more different. In this episode you'll hear how the magnetic pull of education brought them here to Benjamin Franklin High School.

How do we talk about elections, without getting 'political'? Why is civics so important, especially during the run up to elections? We wanted to unpack this as teachers, and come up with ideas as to how students could be more civic minded, even when making different choices. A tough topic indeed, but Victoria Tracy and Don Meyer took it on, a few days before the US elections.

September, being filled with Homecoming events, we wanted to give you give you a sense of what 'coming home' means to students who recently graduated. My guests, Emily, Drayton and Lincoln sat in the computer lab they once graced in seventh grade, and shared some poignant thoughts on the impact of Benjamin Franklin High School: The musicals they were in, the teachers they will never forget, their...

Sure, students love movies. But why would they spend their lunch recess in a classroom watching old movies? "Klicker's Classic Movie Club" is actually a club at Benjamin Franklin High School. They come here to explore various genres of movies. From "Gone with the wind," to "Princess bride" and everything in between. In this podcast hosted by history teacher Jason...

His on-ramp was data science and geochemistry, but there are many other hats Dr. David Collings wears at Benjamin Franklin Charter Schools. Born in England, his career took him to South America and Africa before he came to the US. Before he departs on another exciting sojourn--Mongolia!--we wanted to catch up with someone who has always felt the pull of the Franklin magnetic field.

Coaches Dan Norris and Jace Smith discuss a powerful book, Extreme Ownership ,' by two Navy Seals, Jocko Willink, and Leif Babin. In this podcast you will hear how lessons learned on the battlefield could be applied to business and life. The coaches then go on to explain why Trust and Accountability are so crucial to their own leadership styles at Benjamin Franklin High School.

Two tough-as-nails cohosts, Coach Dan Norris and Ms. Yvette Rangel, talk to Lily Nugent, a student on the wrestling team about what sports men and women are up against. A fascinating insight into how they got to where they are!

"What did the Romans ever teach us?" a line from Monty Python, is one way of looking at why we teach and practice Roman virtues. Humor aside, the Roman empire wasn't exactly the paragon of virtue. Our two classical education hosts, Mr. Klicker and Mr. Finnegan take on this sticky topic with humorous analogies, but unfortunately no togas were used when they were in front of the microp...

This year Student Government (STUGO) began hosting one day each of Opening Ceremony for Junior High, and High School - at the Gym, and Auditorium, respectively. Fasten your seat belts and listen to the back story of how they got there, and how they see it working out. Coach Pete, Logan Sargent, and Cameron Montanye host this show.

Our summer trip to Ireland and England finally happened this year, after Covid forced us to hit the pause button. It was a blast! This episode's co-hosts, Mrs. Ellis and Mrs. Nelson talk about their experience as chaperones. Plus, hear students talk about their impressions of the two countries, and how it relates to what they learn in school. From the Irish countryside where they saw more shee...

Season 2 of Fully Charged kicks off with a fun topic, the two blockbuster movies about Barbie and Oppenheimer. Coach Peterson and Ms. Tracy discuss the cultural issues that these movies took on. Complicated themes of the atom bomb and communism in Oppenheimer, vs those of feminism in Barbie. The two new hosts make some interesting connections between the two movies, popularly referred to as '...

Trinity Wright who has hosted this podcast is off to school - to pursue a master's degree in education administration. As a farewell podcast Angelo Fernando interviews Ms. Wright to find out about her experience as a podcaster, and how her passion for history --she calls herself a History nerd! - fits into her passion for education, teaching and current affairs. She also talks about her hobby...

Professor Anders Peterson, who teaches Spanish will tell you that learning another language is useful not just for practical reasons such as getting understood in a foreign country. It's what helps your brain in multi-tasking, in slowing down the onset of brain disease, and so much more. In this episode, Trinity Wright talks to professor Peterson about the secret sauce to his Spanish class.

What do stories of wizards and monsters, of extraterrestrials and other worlds teach us? Do they? There's a reason why books like Hobbit or Out of The Silent Planet are being taught in schools. It's not what you might think.  This is a slightly longer podcast because there's so much to unpack. Trinity Wright discusses these with her guest, Taylor Guinan who talks about some of the deeper reas...

We're taking on a crazy important topic of AI. It's the part of AI that you've been hearing in the news (or soon will) that's affecting not only all school, but also the entire world. I', Ms. Wright, and my two guests are Ms. Mateski  from the English department and Dr. Collings from the science department. Both serve on the academic team which I am also part of.  Specifically, we're tal...

Another live podcast inc the gym! Trinity Wright and Angelo Fernando co-host this podcast. At the table is the new Assistant Principal of Benjamin Franklin High School, Kristine Pullins.  Also on the show is senior at large, Vance McMillen. Mrs. Pullins talked about the shared vision among everyone at the school. This is her 6th year at the school. There's plenty of advice to go around, in ke...

Trailer for Episode 12 of Fully Charged, featuring Vance McMillen.

Take a peek into the Fine Arts program at Benjamin Franklin High school through the eyes of two students, Dexter Cruz and Emily Cook. They are actively involved. Dexter recently hosted our talent contest, Franklin's Got Talent. He and Emily have been in our recent musicals, too! How do they juggle their extracurricular life and academics? What keeps them fully charged, so to speak? In this po...

Math is one of those subjects that you get, or it makes your eyes roll. But wait! Listen to how math teacher, Mrs. Karly Chasteen puts it. And wait, there's more - listen to what Bo Smith , a senior at Benjamin Franklin High School says about how his career plans have been launched. Almost literally! Math, says Mrs. Chasteen was 'static' until calculus came along. In fact she admits it seemed bori...

Schools are opening everywhere around us. But there is more to education, says coach Todd Cook, than the bells and whistles of a school. "We're giving students a success map," he says. It sets us apart, and defines what we call the Charger Way. In this podcast Trinity Wright and Mr. Cook discuss what educating the whole person means. "Why can't school choice mean a parent could take a student to t...