The Levittown Board of Education welcomed the Salk Middle School Pod Squad for the academic presentation at the Jan. 10 meeting. Students have a gift for gab at Salk Middle School in the Levittown School District, and that was the inspiration for the new Pod Squad. The podcasting club was spotlighted during the academic presentation at the Jan. 10 Board of Education meeting.

Principal John Zampaglione said that the goal is to have 100% of Salk students participate in at least one extracurricular activity, so the building administrators and teachers continually look for ways to expand offerings that meet student interests. That's how the Pod Squad started, when sixth grade teacher Michele DiLevo heard her students having a spirited debate about the Giants and Jets, and wanted to give them a more formal outlet to talk about topics they care about.

Ms. DiLevo, now the adviser of Pod Squad, and several students presented at the board meeting. They talked about the different podcasts they produce, which focus on a wide variety of topics such as animals, Legos, sports and video games. There is even a podcast dedicated to getting to know Salk students and staff a little better.

"They want to talk about what they're passionate about," she said.

Students are involved in all aspects of podcast production, from planning a show, to recording, to editing. They enjoy adding music and sound effects. Pod Squad members have also been doing audio recording of children's books, which they hope to share with the elementary schools in the future.

Pod Squad members, joined by adviser Michele DiLevo, talked about the different topics of their podcasts.