HERRICKS MIDDLE SCHOOL :

ADDRESS: 7 Hilldale Drive, Albertson, NY 11507

PHONE: 516-305-8600 FAX: 516-739-4738

2025: NPR Student Podcast Challenge

Check out this year's incredible 2024 NPR Student Podcast Challenge Submissions from our Content Creation Students. There are a huge variety of topics ranging from humor, to investigation, to heartfelt stories and so much more! We hope that you enjoy these 8 minute or less episodes that are centered around a theme or idea.

🍲 Recipe Records explores how food plays an essential role in connecting families across generations.
Spotify | Apple Podcasts
🎴 Gotta Catch Most of ’Em digs into why Pokémon cards and blind bags hold such a special place in so many hearts.
Spotify | Apple Podcasts
😅 Lyrical Lore sees two students reclaim power over their embarrassing stories by sharing them with the world.
Spotify | Apple Podcasts
💬 Under Pressure looks at the social and academic pressures students feel among their peers.
Spotify | Apple Podcasts
😂 How Memes Can Influence the Internet reveals why memes aren’t just silly—they’re actually powerful communication tools.
Spotify | Apple Podcasts
🎤 One Hit Away tells stories of people who came this close to fame.
Spotify | Apple Podcasts
⚽ Derby Central brings soccer fans together, with the loser facing a high-stakes punishment: wearing their rival’s jersey!
Spotify | Apple Podcasts
👶 In Order takes a fascinating look at sibling birth order and how it may (or may not) shape family dynamics.
Spotify | Apple Podcasts
🎮 Guess The Blurb: Anime or Movie? is a game-show style podcast where students guess if a description belongs to an anime or a movie—surprisingly tricky!
Spotify | Apple Podcasts
⏳ TikTok, Time’s Up! explores what might happen if TikTok disappeared—and whether we’re ready for that.
Spotify | Apple Podcasts
😋 Foodles – Blinded is a hilarious food adventure where students blindfold themselves to guess surprise foods—sometimes shocking, always fun.
Spotify | Apple Podcasts
🥒 Snack Time: Trending Snacks features students (and a special guest!) tasting and rating wild snacks—ever tried a Pickle Bite?
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

I’m excited to share some incredible work that’s been happening behind the scenes with this year’s NPR Student Podcast Challenge! As always, a huge thank you to everyone who’s been flexible with schedules, loaned me students, sparked conversations, or simply cheered us on as the Content Creation class worked tirelessly on their podcasts. Every bit of support matters—these projects truly wouldn’t be possible without this amazing community.

This year, we proudly submitted 12 original podcasts to the national competition, continuing our tradition of showcasing Herricks’ creativity and voice on a national stage. The contest invites 5th–8th grade students from across the country to submit podcasts (8 minutes or shorter) around any theme or idea. Whether we take home prizes or not (though yes, it would be amazing to see Herricks recognized again!), I am incredibly proud of the thoughtful, funny, and at times deeply personal stories our students created.

As some of you might remember, last year we were honored with two spots on the national Honorable Mention list—out of thousands of submissions!

Dungeons & Decisions featuring Claud and Blake (with Michael Orlep and Bridget Vescio as guests), and
A Loath of Reading with Daniel and James, exploring two friends’ very different perspectives on reading.
We were especially excited that AyaSophia’s Part-Time Egyptian podcast landed in the top 10 nationwide!

This year’s batch is every bit as impressive, with topics ranging from personal identity to pop culture debates and social investigations. You can check out any entries that catch your interest here if you feel inspired (seriously, no pressure at all!):

They are all fantastic in their own way, but here’s a quick peek at some you might enjoy:

S03E024: NPR Student podcast Challenge:

How memes can influence the internet (Aiden + Sumin + Ethan)

(This Podcast was submitted as an entry in the 2024 NPR Student Podcast Challenge 5th-8th Grade Competition)

NPR Challenge: How memes can influence the internet (Sumin, Ethan, and Aiden)

Memes. They are a large part of the internet. Almost everybody knows about their existence. And they are stupid, or are they? Why do people use memes, what are the meanings behind them and how do they connect people together? All of these questions will be answered in this podcast.

This podcast was recorded in Herricks Studios with Michael Heit in the Content Creation Foundations 8th Grade Elective.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these recordings do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Herricks School District.

S03E025: NPR Student Podcast Challenge:

One Hit Away (Patterson + Siddhant + Adyan)

(This Podcast was submitted as an entry in the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge 5th-8th Grade Competition)

NPR Challenge: One Hit Away (Patterson, Siddhant, Adyan)

We talk about some people with many achievements in their life who barely missed out on due to life taking them to other places.

This podcast was recorded in Herricks Studios with Michael Heit in the Content Creation Foundations 8th Grade Elective.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these recordings do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Herricks School District.

S03E026: NPR Student Podcast Challenge:

Lyrical Lore (Marion & Layla)

NPR Challenge: Lyrical Lore (Marion & Layla)

(This Podcast was submitted as an entry in the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge 5th-8th Grade Competition)

We state all the interesting and funny cringy things we've done before so people can laugh over it. Can we take the power back of our embarrassing moments by sharing it with our friends and putting it out into the world?

This podcast was recorded in Herricks Studios with Michael Heit in the Content Creation Foundations 8th Grade Elective.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these recordings do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Herricks School District.

S03E027: NPR Student Podcast Challenge:

Gotta Catch Most of ‘em (Shai, Jayden, and Matthew)

NPR Challenge: Gotta Catch Most of ‘em (Shai, Jayden, and Matthew)

(This Podcast was submitted as an entry in the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge 5th-8th Grade Competition)

Opening packs are fun and all, but what does it mean on a deeper level? Is it a bonding experience, or a feeling you crave, or the chase. Could be anything. We’ll be discussing this on Gotta Catch Most of ‘Em.

This podcast was recorded in Herricks Studios with Michael Heit in the Content Creation Foundations 8th Grade Elective.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these recordings do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Herricks School District.

S03E028: NPR Student Podcast Challenge:

Guess The Blurb - Anime or Movie (Michael, Ezwin, With RYan)

NPR Challenge: Guess The Blurb - Anime or Movie (Michael, Ezwin, and Special Guest Ryan)

(This Podcast was submitted as an entry in the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge 5th-8th Grade Competition)

It's a podcast where we invite people and make them guess if the blurb of the show is a movie or anime and see how much they get right. What does a description of Anime mean to that genre of media?

This podcast was recorded in Herricks Studios with Michael Heit in the Content Creation Foundations 8th Grade Elective.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these recordings do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Herricks School District.

S03E029: NPR Student Podcast Challenge:

TikTok, Time’s Up! (Sumer, Louis, and Ethan)

NPR Challenge: TikTok, Time’s Up! (Sumer, Louis, and Ethan)

(This Podcast was submitted as an entry in the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge 5th-8th Grade Competition)

What would happen if TikTok got banned. What would we do? I suppose we figured that out already, but this can go much, much deeper.

This podcast was recorded in Herricks Studios with Michael Heit in the Content Creation Foundations 8th Grade Elective.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these recordings do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Herricks School District.

S03E030: NPR Student Podcast Challenge:

Derby Central - Champions League Clash (Om, Jack, and Ibraheem)

NPR Challenge: Derby Central - Champions League Clash (Om, Jack, and Ibraheem)

(This Podcast was submitted as an entry in the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge 5th-8th Grade Competition)

We try to predict the winner of the Champions League and to see who loses and wins. The winner may not get anything, but the loser has a major consequence, wearing your rival's team jersey.

This podcast was recorded in Herricks Studios with Michael Heit in the Content Creation Foundations 8th Grade Elective.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these recordings do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Herricks School District.

S03E031: NPR Student Podcast Challenge:

Foodles - Blinded (Gloria, Savannah, and Avalin)

NPR Challenge: Foodles - Blinded (Gloria, Savannah, and Avalin)

(This Podcast was submitted as an entry in the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge 5th-8th Grade Competition)

In this special episode, we blindfold ourselves to take out one of the most essential senses when eating. Sight. Without the essential sense of sight, we’re all left with the flavors, textures, and smells of the food.

Sometimes surprising, sometimes hilarious, but always entertaining. What might happen when we don’t know what we eat? Find out on this special episode with the Foodles!

This podcast was recorded in Herricks Studios with Michael Heit in the Content Creation Foundations 8th Grade Elective.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these recordings do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Herricks School District.

S03E032: NPR Student Podcast Challenge:

Recipe Records (Jeel)

NPR Challenge: Recipe Records (Jeel)

(This Podcast was submitted as an entry in the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge 5th-8th Grade Competition)

Recipe Records is a podcast about food from my culture and how it keeps me and my family together. I provide my own perspective about food from my culture and interview my family members and include their perspective about it. My podcast is about food, but really, it’s about the different cultural food my family makes to keep us together.

This podcast was recorded in Herricks Studios with Michael Heit in the Content Creation Foundations 8th Grade Elective.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these recordings do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Herricks School District.

S03E033: NPR Student Podcast Challenge:

Snack Time - Trending Snacks (Preston & Michael W/ Mr. Cannata)

NPR Challenge: Snack Time - Trending Snacks (Preston & Michael with Special Guest Mr. Cannata)

(This Podcast was submitted as an entry in the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge 5th-8th Grade Competition)

It’s a podcast where we eat unique foods that we never tried before and how we react and how we rate the food and share our thoughts about it. What's a Pickle Bite?

This podcast was recorded in Herricks Studios with Michael Heit in the Content Creation Foundations 8th Grade Elective.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these recordings do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Herricks School District.

S03E034: NPR Student Podcast Challenge:

Reddit And Vetted - Under Pressure (Jaylen, Sophia, and Durva)

NPR Challenge: Under Pressure (Jaylen, Sophia, and Durva)

(This Podcast was submitted as an entry in the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge 5th-8th Grade Competition)

This podcast is a fascinating and mind boggling way to show and prove how middle schoolers actually feel being in a high performing school and where they get most of their pressure from whether it be from parents or themselves. this dive with interviews with both teachers and students you will see and understand the differences and similarities between pressures put on students and where teachers believe their students get their pressure from.

This podcast was recorded in Herricks Studios with Michael Heit in the Content Creation Foundations 8th Grade Elective.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these recordings do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Herricks School District.

NPR Student Podcast Challenge:

S03E035: NPR Challenge: In Order (Carolina, Gabrielle, and Liana)

NPR Challenge: In Order (Carolina, Gabrielle, and Liana)

(This Podcast was submitted as an entry in the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge 5th-8th Grade Competition)

Our podcast is called In Order. It’s all about siblings and how your spot in the family oldest, middle, or youngest might change how you're treated. We talk to real siblings from HMS to find out if birth order really matters. Was the oldest bossy? Did the youngest get away with everything? It’s a fun way to figure out if growing up in the same family means you had the same childhood.

This podcast was recorded in Herricks Studios with Michael Heit in the Content Creation Foundations 8th Grade Elective.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these recordings do not necessarily reflect the views or position of Herricks School District.