The TidePod

In the eighth episode of the TidePod's third season, we will be talking to Dr. McDonald about the recent Wall Street controversy surrounding the r/wallstreetbets saga concerning GameStop. Wall Street is located in the lower Manhattan section of New York City and is the home of the New York Stock Exchange. It has also been the historic headquarters of some of the largest U.S. brokerages and investment banks. Gamestop is an American electronics retail company that is known for offering video games and entertainment products. The company has been struggling for the past few years, starting in early 2019, as demand for physical video games has gone down with people opting for online purchases instead. But in a turn of events, Reddit users in the forum #wallstreetbets, founded by Jaime Rogozinski, have united and skyrocketed Gamestop stocks to save the company, causing hedge funds to lose money rapidly. Today, Dr. McDonald will be providing an economic perspective of this situation along with his own personal thoughts and opinions. The featured guest is Dr. McDonald. The episode is hosted by Shoshana Peck and Thisuli Meepagala. The script was written by Charlyn Chu. Publicity and Outreach by Jupleen Kaur. Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters. Edited by Rediet Ghebrehiwet. Produced by Mirula Prasad and Amna Shamim.

In the seventh episode of the TidePod’s third season, we will be talking to Jake Singer about the mock trial team. Mock trial has been a fixture of the RM community for years now, and the mock trial team has won multiple national and statewide championships, including the Maryland State Bar Association’s High School Mock Trial Championship in 2019. In the past, members were given a fictional fact pattern at the beginning of the year to prepare for the case. Members gave opening and closing statements, and direct and cross-examined witnesses like a real trial. Participating in mock trial in RM gives members direct exposure to the legal system and law. Today, we’ll be learning how mock trial has been adapted for the virtual school year. 

The featured guest is Jake Singer.

The episode is hosted by Amna Shamim.

The script was written by Mirula Prasad, Rediet Ghebrehiwet, and Annie Guo.

Publicity and Outreach by Amna Shamim.

Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters.

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

In the sixth episode of the third season of the TidePod, we talk to Nick Asante about his role as the 43rd Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB). The SMOB is a crucial position on the Board of Education that gives a voice to MCPS students through their votes every year. This year, Nick has taken on unique challenges and responsibilities as SMOB because of the pandemic and the start of online learning. We'll discuss how he manages his schedule as a senior while being a representative in the Board of Education for the students of Montgomery County. Sophomores and juniors are able to fill out the candidate nomination form to run for SMOB until January 28th, and Nick will be giving us some tips for those looking to run and apply to be a candidate. In this episode, listeners will get an exclusive look into the life of SMOB and the expectations they are required to fulfill as SMOB. 

The featured guest is Nick Asante.

The episode is hosted by Lydia Yeh and Annie Guo.

The script was written by Courtney Kim, Kyson Taylor and Lydia Yeh.

Publicity and Outreach by Nikki Shah, Mirula Prasad and Amna Shamim.

Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters.

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

In the fifth episode of the third season of the TidePod, we talk to two teachers to understand their perspectives on the recent grade change policies enacted in Montgomery County Public Schools. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve seen many changes made within our school district, MCPS, to accommodate student needs in a new learning setting. Most recently, MCPS has altered its grading policy, allowing for 16 total assignments and credit for late work. In this episode, we will be examining the perspective of two RM teachers on the new policy, discussing their thoughts and its impacts on their jobs. 

The featured guests are Ms. Leckie and Dr. Kovacs.

The episode is hosted by Lydia Yeh and Annie Guo.

The script was written by Courtney Kim, Kyson Taylor, and Lydia Yeh.

Publicity and Outreach by Mirula Prasad, Amna Shamim, Annie Guo, and Lydia Yeh.

Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters.

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

In the fourth episode of the third season of the TidePod, we talk to RM teachers about their Thanksgiving plans. This episode is part of a special two-part series. The first part will be an interview with teacher couples about their Thanksgiving plans. The second part will be an interview with prominent teachers in the RM community. It’s November, and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. 2020 has had its fair share of ups and downs, but one of the most challenging things about Thanksgiving this year is the loss of most Thanksgiving traditions. Due to COVID-19, traditional in-person gatherings in large groups with family/friends and traveling far distances are not an option. Instead, people have had to come up with other solutions to carry out their thanksgiving traditions. Today we have Shoshana Peck and Thisuli Meepagala hosting today’s show. We are joined by Mr. Fahrner, Mr. Stillman, the Albaugh’s, and the Goetz’s, who will be sharing their Thanksgiving plans this year in addition to how they have adapted in these difficult times. 

This episode of the TidePod was hosted by Shoshana Peck and Thisuli Meepagala. 

The featured guests were Mr. Goetz, Mrs. Goetz, Mr. Albaugh, Mrs. Albaugh, Mr. Stillman, and Mr. Fahrner. 

The script was written by Anne Moser, Jupleen Kaur, Charlyn Chu, Angelina Xu. 

Publicity and outreach by Alyssa Lee and Nikitha Shah. 

Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters. 

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

In the fourth episode of the third season of the TidePod, we talk to RM teachers about their Thanksgiving plans. This episode is part of a special two-part series. The first part will be an interview with teacher couples about their Thanksgiving plans. The second part will be an interview with prominent teachers in the RM community. It’s November, and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. 2020 has had its fair share of ups and downs, but one of the most challenging things about Thanksgiving this year is the loss of most Thanksgiving traditions. Due to COVID-19, traditional in-person gatherings in large groups with family/friends and traveling far distances are not an option. Instead, people have had to come up with other solutions to carry out their thanksgiving traditions. Today we have Shoshana Peck and Thisuli Meepagala hosting today’s show. We are joined by Mr. Fahrner, Mr. Stillman, the Albaugh’s, and the Goetz’s, who will be sharing their Thanksgiving plans this year in addition to how they have adapted in these difficult times. 

This episode of the TidePod was hosted by Shoshana Peck and Thisuli Meepagala. 

The featured guests were Mr. Goetz, Mrs. Goetz, Mr. Albaugh, Mrs. Albaugh, Mr. Stillman, and Mr. Fahrner. 

The script was written by Anne Moser, Jupleen Kaur, Charlyn Chu, Angelina Xu. 

Publicity and outreach by Alyssa Lee and Nikitha Shah. 

Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters. 

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

In the third episode of the third season of the TidePod, we talked to members of different political activism organizations to learn more about their contributions and the importance of participating in local elections. Election season has come to the end and we’ve witnessed a lot of attention and energy being dedicated to influencing the outcome of the presidential election, whether that be simply exercising one’s given right to vote or organizing initiatives to educate and mobilize large groups of citizens. Understandably so, as the future president will possess the ability to approve or deny critical legislation, have power over the armed forces, and nominate Supreme Court justices, among many other responsibilities. However, in the midst of the presidential election commotion, Americans tend to overlook the importance of state and local elections. In this episode, we will be breaking down the role of the central versus local governments by talking to members of different political activism groups at RM and our county as a whole to get their input. Today, we are joined by Claire Gelilo, Nikhitha Balijepalli and Julia Angel. This episode is hosted by Courtney Kim and Kyson Taylor. The script was written by Annie Guo and Rediet Ghebrehiwet. Publicity and Outreach by Mirula Prasad, Amna Shamim, Rediet Ghebrehiwet, and Kyson Taylor. Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters. Edited by Rediet Ghebrehiwet. Produced by Mirula Prasad and Amna Shamim.

In the second episode of the third season of the TidePod, we told spooky stories in time for the season of scares and horror. As Halloween is quickly approaching, we decided to make a special edition episode for the holiday. For this episode, we will be telling three scary stories. We will be telling an original story by our very own TidePod contributor, Jupleen Kaur about a terrifying monster in a cabin. Then, we will be telling the infamous story of the Bell Witch which has been circulating pop culture for quite some time. Lastly, we will be telling you the well known urban legend of Slenderman. So grab a snack, lay back and get ready to be spooked! Your hosts today will be Nikki Shah and Rediet Ghebrehiwet. 

This episode is hosted by Nikki Shah and Rediet Ghebrehiwet.

The script was written by Jupleen Kaur, Mirula Prasad, and Rediet Ghebrehiwet. Publicity and outreach by Amna Shamim and Mirula Prasad. 

Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters.

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

In the first episode of the third season of the TidePod, we interviewed leadership from four different cultural clubs in RM: the South Asian Student Association, RM’s Asian American Club, the Jewish Student Union, and the Bilingual and Biliterate Spanish Club. Here at Richard Montgomery, we have a variety of academic and special interest clubs. The category that we’ll be looking at today is culture. Cultural clubs promote awareness of different cultures present which is important for representing the diversity in our school and the world.

With 140 clubs registered this year, there are 32 clubs that identify themselves as cultural/ethnic. Today, we will be speaking to members of four different cultural clubs about their culture and how they use their club to start conversations.

Featured guests: Kaia Lee-Espiritu, Anjali Natarajan, Sydney Weiss, and Desiree Ascensio Coto.

Hosts: Savva Brown and Alyssa Lee.

The script was written by Julia Craig. Publicity and outreach by Nikki Shah, Amna Shamim, and Mirula Prasad.

Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters. 

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

In the eleventh episode of the second season of the TidePod, we interviewed three teachers on their thoughts of the recent outbreak of COVID-19 and how it is affecting their lives and the education system. 

Coronavirus has caused schools all around the country and even world to be shut down until further notice. Many schools have announced that they will be closed for the rest of the year. At this moment, all Maryland public schools have been closed through May 15, 2020. This event has left school officials scrambling for ways to keep students educated during these unprecedented times. Schools are lending technology and Wi-Fi hotspots to students without access to these things to start online learning. Students are now participating in Zoom calls and are given assignments to complete to finish off the school year or the time they are gone from school. AP exams are now being held online and are adapted in response to this crisis. Teachers have had to adapt to this technology as well and find out the best ways to teach students during this time. We have emailed three teachers for their thoughts on the situation and will be reading them out loud on this podcast today.

Featured guests: Mr. Goldstein, Mrs. Vires, and Ms. Carter.

This episode was hosted by Mirula Prasad.

The script was written by Mirula Prasad.

Publicity and outreach were done by Mirula Prasad

Graphic by Valerie Wang. Music courtesy of Corrigan Peters.

Edited by Savva Brown, Rediet Ghebrehiwet, and Amna Shamim. Produced by Grace Burwell.