POLKcast Season 6 premieres with a fresh take on connection and innovation

Polk State College has launched its sixth season of POLKcast, the College’s official podcast that brings the voices of Polk State to campuses and communities across Polk County. Hosted this season by Librarian Jarrod Jones, listeners can expect smooth sounds and engaging conversations that dive deep into the connections among students, resources and innovation at Polk State.

In the season’s premiere, Jones and Office of Communications and Public Affairs members Leah Bartholomay and Madison Fantozzi revisit the origins of POLKcast, founded on the simple yet powerful idea of connecting the College community. This sets the stage for a season filled with discovery, insight and inspiration.

Listeners will hear from a range of guests, all united by the mission of supporting student success. Topics include the timely and tech-forward, like artificial intelligence and research, to the fun and fascinating, like “weird majors” and “strange careers.” Whether on the way to class or tuning in from home, POLKcast is a go-to source for stories that not only inform but also celebrate what makes Polk State College unique. Catch new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and polk.edu.

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About this season’s host, Jarrod Jones

Jones has served as a librarian in the College’s Winter Haven Campus Library for more than a decade, and his newest role as POLKcast host is not his first experience with Polk State fame. In fact, his episode of POLKcast from Season 2 with Winter Haven Library and Teaching Learning Computing Center Director Chris Fullerton remains the most-listened-to episode in the podcast’s history.

Jones spearheaded the creation of the Student Learning Innovation Centers – better known as the SLIC rooms – that serve as specialized technological hubs for students in both the Winter Haven Campus Library and Lakeland Campus Teaching Learning Computing Center (TLCC).

The Winter Haven native attended Jewett School of the Arts and Lake Region High School before graduating with his bachelor’s in History from the University of Florida. He also holds a master’s degree in Library and Information Sciences from the University of South Florida.