The TidePod

The Montgomery County Board of Education passed a resolution allowing for the consideration of renaming six MCPS schools. RM is one of these schools; along with Montgomery County, it is named after Irish soldier Richard Montgomery. Recently, students and communities have been circulating petitions to take the further steps necessary in renaming RM and other MCPS schools. We spoke with US History teacher Mr. Beach to learn more about who Richard Montgomery was and historical context behind RM's name. 

The RM TidePod kicks off its new season with introductions from the new hosts, as well as their tips for the new school year. 

March 20th is the official start of spring this year! To celebrate the blossoming of wildlife and the warm weather soon to come, our team decided to take a walk outdoors to capture the sounds of spring around us. We hope this episode will offer a few minutes of relaxation and reinvigoration after the long cold months of winter. We also encourage everyone to take some time outdoors and appreciate not only the scenery but the scents and sounds surrounding us every day. 

This episode reviews the recently updated MCPS policy on Covid. Our team crafted a survey that was sent out to the entire RM student body to capture student opinion and status on mask and test kit usage, along with any difficulties with resuming a regular school life given the dramatic rise in Omricon cases. 

Attention freshmen, sophomores, and juniors! Course selections for the next school year are happening soon! RM offers a diverse range of unique classes, from LGBTQ studies to Quantitative Literature. In this episode, we invited several teachers and students to share their experiences with unique electives in RM. Featured guests are Ms. Kidd (Journalism & Yearbook), Cindy Le (Quantitative Literature), and Chloe Adossou (African American Studies). Feel free to reach out to them for more information! 

This episode was hosted by Annyee Foo and Hayal Ziku. 
Script written by Courtney Kim, Annyee Foo, and Emma Tyser. 
Publicity and Outreach by Courtney Kim and Hayal Ziku. 
Edited by Jupleen Kaur
Produced by the TidePod editors, Courtney Kim and Jupleen Kaur. 

As students return to the building for the first time in over a year, school events are back into full swing! Today, we spoke to the SGA president, Lulu August, who gave us an overview of school traditions, fundraisers, and other events to come. In our new series - A Beginner's Guide to RM - the TidePod offers a variety of helpful information about RM, academic advice, and fresh updates on exciting events. For the underclassmen who missed out on a traditional school experience, and for the upperclassmen that'd like to finish the school year with lots of memories, we hope this series can help you out.  

Scripted, Hosted, and Produced by TidePod Editor Courtney Kim. 
Edited by Asisstant Editor Jupleen Kaur.

In the twelfth episode of the TidePod’s third season, we gave seniors the opportunity to share their experiences at RM. We accepted audio recordings from any seniors who wanted to reflect on their lives in high school, give shout-outs to their friends and favorite teachers, share their future plans, give advice, and more. We captured the memories of the Class of 2021 in this podcast. It's also our last TidePod episode of the year, and this episode is extra special because it's the last one all of the TidePod editors from this year are participating in. Mirula, Amna, Savva, and Rediet have worked hard this year to make the TidePod what it is and have watched it turn into something amazing. This episode will commemorate the end of our times here and the end of this historic year for high school students. 

The featured guests were Nikki Shah, Alexis Crawley, Anand Chitnis, Anh Tran, Anjali Natarajan, Anna Cheng, Claire Gelillo, Corinne Hanway, Edward Sorensen, Helena Aytenfisu, Olivia Blucker, and Rediet Ghebrehiwet.

The episode was hosted by Mirula Prasad and Amna Shamim.

The script was written by Amna Shamim and Charlyn Chu. 

Publicity and Outreach by Rediet Ghebrehiwet, Amna Shamim, and Mirula Prasad. 

Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters.

Edited by Rediet Ghebrehiwet. Produced by Mirula Prasad and Amna Shamim.

In the eleventh episode of the TidePod’s third season, we will be talking to the two candidates for School-wide President: Lulu August and Shayyan Ali Ahmed.  SGA election season is just around the corner, and all campaigns have been completely virtual. We'll get their insights on the virtual campaigning experience and what they have been doing to gain traction. We'll also give the candidates a chance to share their platforms and tell us why they decided to run for School-wide President in the first place. They will express their main goals and priorities for their campaign or run as School-wide President, and the ideas that make them the best person for the job. Elections are April 14/15 during students' social studies classes, so make sure to vote and have your voice heard. If you have any questions, you can contact Lulu August or Shayyan Ahmed at these emails respectively, [email protected] and [email protected]. 

The featured guests were Lulu August and Shayyan Ali Ahmed.

The episode was hosted by Courtney Kim.

The script was written by Charlyn Chu and Courtney Kim. 

Publicity and Outreach by Nikitha Shah and Courtney Kim.

Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters.

Edited by Rediet Ghebrehiwet. Produced by Mirula Prasad and Amna Shamim.

In the tenth episode of the third season of the TidePod, we interviewed student leaders of the Black Maskers Drama club in Richard Montgomery High School, RMHS, to talk about their upcoming production, Clue: Stay at Home Edition. Normally, the Black Maskers put on a musical during the fall, produce the student-directed One Acts during the winter, and put on a play during the spring. While the Black Maskers were not able to produce any of these shows in person this year, they will be presenting a virtually-made production in April. Today, we will be exploring how the club has adapted in transitioning from an in-person production to an online one. Anand Chitnis and Bridget McKirgan, student leaders of the Black Maskers Drama club, will also help us understand how the club has been running during virtual learning. 

The featured guests are Anand Chitnis and Bridget McKirgan.

The episode is hosted by Thisuli Meepagala.

The script was written by Jupleen Kaur and Alyssa Lee.

Publicity and Outreach by Nikitha Shah.

Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters.

Edited by Savva Brown. Produced by Mirula Prasad and Amna Shamim.

In the ninth episode of the third season of the TidePod, we interviewed Montgomery County Public School, MCPS, students involved in the American Sign Language, ASL, community about their experiences learning ASL and what it means to be an ASL user. In MCPS, ASL is offered as a world language and can be used to fulfill Maryland diploma requirements. Students in these classes learn much more than grammar and vocabulary in these classes; they are also exposed to the culture and heritage of the Deaf community. There is even an ASL club in Richard Montgomery High School to learn more about the community and spread awareness of the issues regarding the Deaf community. We talked to ASL club founder and leader Julia Craig about her experiences and what led her to start this club. Also, we talked to Marilyn Nguyen about why she chose to study ASL  and her experiences learning it. In addition to interviewing students involved with the ASL community, the host for this episode conducted research on the history of ASL to familiarize audiences on the topic. 

The featured guests are Julia Craig and Marilyn Nguyen.

The episode is hosted by Courtney Kim.

The script was written by Courtney Kim and Mirula Prasad.

Publicity and Outreach by Courtney Kim and Mirula Prasad.

Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters.

Edited by Rediet Ghebrehiwet. Produced by Mirula Prasad and Amna Shamim.