Welsh Valley Middle School eighth graders Elizabeth Berberian and Dahlia Levy were recently honored in the New York Times’ 6^th Annual Student Podcast Contest - a yearly competition providing teens an opportunity to submit an episode of an original podcast (no more than five minutes in length) on any topic of their choosing.

The New York Times received more than 1,100 entries to this year’s contest from adolescents all across the country covering a wide range of topics, from the seemingly commonplace - an investigation into the origins of the fork – to the more complex and cosmopolitan – an emotional conversation between a pair of friends from Syria and Ukraine about their shared experience as refugees from war.

Elizabeth and Dahlia earned an Honorable Mention nod for their submission entitled Dark Humor: The Truth Behind Nursery Rhymes, in which the Dragons’ duo explore the unsettling true origins of some of Mother Goose's familiar favorites like Jack & Jill, Little Bo Peep, Three Blind Mice and This Little Piggy.

For more information about the contest and to see the full list of honorees in this year’s contest, click here. To listen to Elizabeth and Dahlia’s episode of Dark Humor, click here.