Flocabulary Announces Winners of Third Black History Month Rap Contest

Nearpod, an interactive instructional platform that gives educators real-time insights into student learning, today names the winners of its third Flocabulary Black History Month Rap Contest, Nia Stephens in the elementary category and Atharv Gowerdhan in the secondary category. Flocabulary, a Nearpod brand, is the leading video and student creativity platform that uses educational hip-hop to engage students and increase achievement.

The annual Black History Month Rap Contest serves to lift underrepresented stories and voices in Black American History. Throughout February, nearly 800 students from across the country researched historical figures and events, then crafted lyrics to detail and celebrate those moments and figures. After reviewing initial lyric submissions, five elementary and five secondary student finalists were chosen to record themselves rapping their original composition to determine the winners. 

Nia Stephens, a 4th-grader from Dekalb County, researched August Wilson, a Tony and Pulitzer award-winning poet, playwright and literary scholar. August Wilson’s work uncovered the truths of racism, with his work eventually reaching the Broadway stage. The secondary winner, 7th-grader Atharv Gowerdh from Cabarrus County Schools, told famed American trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong’s story in his winning entry set to an original beat. Gowerdh explores Armstrong’s early life and career, journey to success and the trail he blazed for Black musicians. Across the near-800 submissions, some standout finalists included: Amaya Standish, who wrote about President Barack Obama, and Allison Geltemeyer, for her telling of Madam C.J. Walker’s story - both of which received perfect scores, alongside Reverdy Capers’ rap about author Richard Wright, which earned a near-perfect score.

“Our Black History Month contest, the first we launched in a series of student contests, serves to uplift student voice and highlight underrepresented histories. We’re incredibly proud to carry on this tradition and create space for students to express themselves,” shared Christopher Camp, Director of Video at Nearpod and Flocabulary. “This annual contest serves as a reminder to us all of the importance of teaching all histories, ensuring all students feel welcome and heard.” 

Both winners’ lyrics will inspire original Flocabulary videos about their chosen historical figures. Their work will join videos inspired by Jaden Jackson’s rap about U.S. Representative John Lewis, Halima Suleiman’s rap about Fannie Lou Hamer and Bilal Fatouh’s rap about Emmett Till. These original Flocabulary videos inspired by the Black History Month Rap Contest winners have been played nearly 177,000 times, reaching students all across the U.S.

The Black History Month Rap Contest is a part of a series of student contests hosted by Flocabulary and Nearpod that serve to uplift underrepresented histories and student voice. Nearpod and Flocabulary remain steadfast in their commitment to shine a light on the history of Black, Indigenous and Asian Americans and provide standards-aligned content that makes it easy for educators to incorporate more diverse stories into their daily lessons. 

To learn more about the winners and finalists, click here. To bring joy and music into your classroom all year long, visit Flocabulary.com 

About Nearpod
Nearpod offers an interactive, instructional platform that merges formative assessment and dynamic media for live and self-paced learning experiences inside and outside of the classroom. Nearpod is a device-agnostic platform that engages students with activities such as VR Field Trips, PhET simulations and Desmos, and features more than 15,000 ready-to-run interactive lessons, videos and activities created in partnership with leading brands like Common Sense Education and Smithsonian. In 2019, Nearpod acquired Flocabulary, a learning platform that engages students in academically rigorous K-12 curriculum while promoting literacy through hip-hop videos. Together, Nearpod and Flocabulary reach educators in the 100 largest school districts in the US. In 2018, Nearpod was named EdTech Digest’s Company of the Year. In March of 2021 Nearpod was acquired by Renaissance, a global leader in assessment, reading and math solutions for pre-K-12 schools and districts. To learn more about Nearpod, visit www.nearpod.com. For more information about Renaissance, visit www.renaissance.com. 
 

Contact Information

Rachel Stoczko

Communications Manager

Nearpod

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