Eleven kids, three states, and one nine-minute podcast. This inspirational story begins with a segment about Hispanic heritage compiled by high school students in Florida, to a segment on mental health made by two students of FHS, Allen Smith and Michael Koppeis. It also includes a story by four Californian teens about the effects of wildfires on their state, and the world.

Koppeis described a little bit about the contest and how it worked. “Basically we were entered into the contest, and then we were partnered with four to five kids from each state.” “Yeah, 5 from Florida and 4 from California.” Smith added. “The prompt was ‘how has a global issue had an impact in your community.’ Smith said. “And then we were told that we had to work together to put together a podcast, that’s sort of similar to BKTV live, so you cut to the (anchors) leading you into the next segment. And then we need to make our own segment.” Koppeis recollected.

They ran into adversity along the way. “It started really good. We got to know all the Floridians, as they called themselves, and most of the people from Florida were really nice. However, the people from California, we didn’t really get into contact with for a while, and even then they ghosted us frequently so it was kind of hard to work with people who you know who wouldn’t communicate and we know nothing about them. On the day that the podcast was due, they’re like, ‘hey here’s our segment, edit it together.’” Says Koppeis.

Eventually though, they pushed through and finished the podcast. Their part was over mental health and the lack of help for those with mental health issues. “We decided to take on the topic of mental health and mental health help, because especially in our area, it’s really lacking. There are only like a couple counselors outside of school, and especially for younger kids who are suffering from some kind of traumatic event there’s pretty much nothing.” Koppeis explained.

If you are interested in listening to this podcast, here is the link.