Episodes

When entering 9th grade, some students choose to ease into this transitional time to get their feet under them by limiting their activities and focusing on school. Will Buck is not one of those students. He is currently participating on two school sports teams during the fall season: varsity football as the kickoff specialist and JV soccer as a goalie. He is taking a demanding course load, full of upper-level honors classes. He is also one of the first students to reach out on his own to be in...

This recording is from a roundtable discussion during a session at the 2021 Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of English and Language Arts Conference held October 22, 2021 in Harrisburg, Pa. This was a wide-ranging conversation about the impact that 9th grade English class can have on students during their remaining years of high school and beyond. Themes of connectivity, failure, and recovery came through many of the answers from four English teachers from across the state. The major questions a...

It's time to get ready for Homecoming on this week's episode! It is hard to believe that we have just finished our 6th week of school and reached the halfway point of the first marking period. Listen in for strategies on finishing the grading period strong or even rebounding from a rocky start, the events and themes of homecoming week, and a reminder at the end that it is OK to change your mind and take chances. We are always looking for students to appear on the podcast, so if you are doing som...

It has been a month of great adjustments for the members of Emmaus High School's Class of 2025. In addition to the normal growing pains of entering high school, they have confronted a new block schedule, continued health and safety procedures due to Covid-19 and for many, reacclimating themselves to being in a school building for the first time since March 2020. To help us work through it all with helpful tips and strategies, our 9th grade school counselors Mrs. Demchak and Mr. McInerney join th...

For students at Emmaus High School and around the country, the events of September 11, 2001, are history experienced through other's stories and images. Students rely on these recollections to gain perspective to the tragic events that rocked the country on that the day and the weeks after. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9-11 we hear first-hand accounts from EHS staff members about how the events impacted the students in their classroom or themselves as high school students. Listen to r...

It was a quite the first week back for the Class of 2025 at Emmaus High School. In addition to all of the first-week jitters that accompany entry into high school, a major, record-breaking storm caused a 2-hour weather delay. In this episode, hear from students Cyrus Mackey and Prince Scille as they give you a first-hand account on a memorable first week back to school. For all previous episodes and to leave a comment or voicemail that can be used in a future episode, visit www.9thgradeexperien...

One of the biggest worries from incoming students is navigating the many halls of Emmaus High School. On this episode you will hear from five students who stopped to chat with us during a building tour opportunity leading up to the first day of school Monday, August 30. Thanks to Tucker Evans, Derek Herman, Faith Riley, Jadon Pierre-Philippe, and Sarah Lorenzo for stopping to share their tips and strategies on finding their way around.

Freshman orientation at EHS is scheduled for Monday, August 16 beginning at 8 am. In order to get answers to your last-minute questions, 9th grade assistant principal Jordan Fortier joins us today on the podcast. In this episode, we talk about * The schedule for orientation day * Building tours for all grade levels on orientation day and the remainder of the week * Information about clubs and activities * Chromebook upgrade and exchange * The schedule for the beginning of the school year *...

What would it be like as a freshman in high school at the same time as a future NBA Hall of Famer? In this episode, you will hear Worcester Red Sox Radio Announcer Josh Maurer tell what it was like to "share" the halls of Lower Merion High School with then senior Kobe Bryant. Maurer talks about how some of the experiences during that year led him to what has become a near 20-year professional sports broadcasting career. Other topics Maurer discusses include: * Involvement in media, sports, and...

Welcome to the Class of 2025 and to the first full show of Season 4! The beginning of this episode features Class of 2021 graduate Owen Hook, who talked about entering 9th grade as a brand-new student to the district. He found himself through academics and activities and will move on to Millersville University in a few weeks. In the second part of the episode, we take a look back at the 2020-2021 school year with over 40 responses from the Class of 2024 about how their year went, what they learn...

The 9th Grade Experience is gearing up for Season 4 and in this preview episode we got a little help from several members of the class of 2021 to give some tips that incoming 9th graders can use from Day 1. Listen for full-length episodes coming soon!

On this special episode of the 9th Grade Experience we take it back to elementary school, as we hear 5th grade students at Wescosville Elementary share their passion projects. Thanks to Mrs. Feher, one of the 5th grade teachers, for reaching out to the podcast to ask for assistance in helping her students record their work in audio form. In addition to the background information on the purpose of the projects, Feher also shared her own freshmen year story along with hopes for her current student...

Grace Comfort, Class of 2021, has an impressive list of accomplishments displayed on her #2021EHSGradSpotlight poster that has been promoted through various East Penn School District social media accounts over the last few months. She serves as the president of Peers Assisting Learning Support (PALS), Student Government Association Secretary and EPSD School Board Representative, and National Honor Society member among many other things. But most importantly, Grace is a strong self-advocate. Dur...

For the second anniversary of the 9th Grade Experience Podcast, we highlight the work of freshmen Elizabeth "Tami" Adesanya and Brasciana "Brassy" Ford in the establishment of the newest student group Students Organizing Against Racism (SOAR). Along with faculty advisor, Eyer librarian Mrs. Magro, Tami and Brassy are working to bring awareness and change to the mindsets of the Emmaus High School community through information and advocacy about what it means to be a person of color. Topics discus...

This week, we give a special shout out to our amazing teachers here at Emmaus High School as we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week! We hear from three of our outstanding faculty members - Mrs. Horner, Mr. Remaly, and Mr. Iobst - as they give a little background about themselves while attempting to make connections to their 9th grade year and what influenced them to become a teacher. We asked each teacher the following questions: 1. Did something during your 9th grade year influence your decisi...

This special edition of the podcast was recorded on Thursday, February 11, 2021, at the virtual Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Conference (PETE&C). The session titled “9th Grade Experience - PETE&C Edition” was held on the final day of the 4-day event which is a “statewide event that provides quality programs focused on technology in the educational field.” During this interactive session that featured educators from across the state, some of the topics covered included Attendees...

Brendan Baig has quite the resume. He is the current Class of 2021 president. He is a National Honor Society member. He is a member of the Track and Field program. He founded S.A.V.E. (Students Advocating Vape Elimination) and participated in several organizations and clubs. In the fall of 2021, he will be attending the prestigious CALArts program, with the intention of majoring in film composition in order to compose music for films. But, as we learn in this episode, the story behind Brendan’s...

This short episode is a non-released excerpt from a December 2020 interview with New York Times best-selling author Jessica Lahey, whose new book, The Addiction Inoculation, was released on Tuesday, April 6. We only scratched the surface in discussing the book, which according to her website "helps parents and educators understand the roots of substance abuse and identify who is most at risk for addiction, and offers practical steps for prevention." To learn more about Lahey: Listen to our full...

Today's episode is the final installment of the 3-part #EHSCareerMonth podcast series, as we remix last March's episode with screenwriter, director, filmmaker, and podcaster Brian Koppelman. Best known for his work on the movies Ocean's 13 and Rounders, as well as the Showtime show Billions, Koppelman gives practical advice that anyone can implement today in order to grow and develop as students toward whatever their potential career may be. For the original, full-audio only episode, go back to...

It is hard to believe that it has been over one year since the last time that the entire student body of Emmaus High School has been in the building together at one time. This week we take a look back on the past year as we hear reflections from several students who participated on our message board answering the question: What have you learned about yourself in the last year? There was a wide-range of answers showing the interests and growth of our 9th grade students. We also try a new feature...

We are close to the halfway point of #EHSCareerMonth and on this episode we have remix of two earlier episodes of the podcast featuring EHS graduates Lisa MacDonald '14 and Senator Clarence Lam '99. We pulled out great career advice for students at all grade levels who may be interested in starting their own business like Lisa or mixing multiple areas of interest to arrive in a career like Clarence. Don't forget to check your Class of 2024 Schoology page on how to access all of the #EHSCareerMo...

The Emmaus Boys and Girls Freshman Basketball teams have recently finished seasons unlike any other due to Covid-19 restrictions. Through masks and in spite of missing out on traditional team-bonding activities, the teams persevered to finish "full" 10-game seasons against other Lehigh County schools. On this episode, we hear from Jametric Harris, Daniel Rohlsen, Matthew Volquez and Teagan McCourt about the ups and downs of the boys' season, how a commitment to defense led to a season of succes...

The Emmaus Boys and Girls Freshman Basketball teams have recently finished seasons unlike any other due to Covid-19 restrictions. Through masks and in spite of missing out on traditional team-bonding activities, the teams persevered to finish "full" 10-game seasons against other Lehigh County schools. On this episode, we hear from Alexis Krum, Taylor Gitski and Juliana Stichter about the ups and downs of the girls season, the pressure when each game feels like it could be their last for the sea...

Where will your path lead? On this episode, School Counselor Mrs. Grim gives us all the important information to assist students, staff and parents on the road to answering that that question as Emmaus High School kicks off March Career Month. She assists everyone in where to go to find the calendar of speakers, biographies on each presenter, and how to sign up through Naviance to attend the sessions. As an added bonus, thanks to the counseling department, we will be giving out prizes to studen...