As the nation marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, NPR asked students all around the country to reflect on the moment and to make podcasts about the American experience and what “life liberty and the pursuit of happiness” means to them.

We received more than 700 entries, including many conversations with immigrant parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles about why their family decided to move to the United States. Others scored high-profile interviews with veterans, government officials and even Gloria Steinem.

We listened to reenactments and retellings of histories like the Battle of Monmouth, the Stonewall riots, the Underground Railroad and a special presentation on President Theodore Roosevelt’s pets. Other podcasts take place in the present, including one in which students report on civics education in their school.

Our team chose a handful of winning entries and honorable mentions from fourth graders, middle and high schoolers. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

Winners

Abridged
Students: Grace Kepka and Angelika Garrett, Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md.
Teacher/Sponsor: Kyle Wannen

High schooler Grace lives in Takoma Park, Md., one of the handful of cities in the United States that allow 16 year olds to vote in all local elections. In her podcast with her friend Angelika, they discuss the power of the youth vote, and how voting rights encourage residents to learn about their government and be more politically active in their communities.

Civics in Our Schools
Students: Izabella Anthony, Benjamin Baigel, Bridget Castellon, Rile DeLeon, Maxwell Gibbs, Daniel Hernandez, Malcolm Johnson, Sylpa Kafle, Mason King, Kyle Li, Maximus Lin, Emmerson Quinn, Ariella Schoenfeld, Owenize Udevbulu and Dara Widzowski, Hewlett Elementary School in Hewlett, N.Y.
Teacher/Sponsor: Jaime Harrington

“Here’s the surprising truth. Many Americans, even grownups, don’t know the basics of how our country was founded or how our government works.” In Civics in Our Schools, a group of fifth graders voice their concerns about the lack of good civics education and discuss what they can do to be better citizens.

Sunday Puzzle

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On-air challenge

I’m going to give you two five-letter words. Add the same two letters at the end of the first one and the start of the second one, in each case to complete a familiar seven-letter word.

Ex. Later Ready –> LATERAL/ALREADY

1. Habit Tempt

2. Laten Press

3. Blank Ching

4. Since Venue

5. Shack Groom

6. Surge Stage

Last week’s challenge

Last week’s challenge came from Rawson Sheinberg. of Plymouth, Mich. Think of a U.S. city with a two-word name. Add a letter to the first word, without rearranging letters, to name a country. Then, without adding a letter, rearrange the letters of the second word to name another country. What places are these?

Answer: Los Angeles –> Laos, Senegal

Winner

Elaine Neel of Derby, Kansas.

This week’s challenge

Next weekend will be the 186th convention of the National Puzzler League, in Bloomington, Ind., which I’ll be attending as always. Two other people who will be there are Henri Picciotto and Joshua Kosman, who created this week’s challenge. Name two words that are opposites. They share a single letter. Remove that shared letter from each word, put a hyphen between the two starting words, and you’ll get a term you sometimes see in food ads. What are the two words?

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, July 9 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: include a phone number where we can reach you.