For the third year in a row, Athenian students have won the New York Times‘ Year in Rap Contest (inspired by Flocabulary’s annual rap; 2014’s rap video is above). This year, two entries by Athenian students were among the top six winners from hundreds of entries.  What makes these feats particularly impressive is how the students wrote these entries, based on their knowledge of current events, in a collaborative process over just one class period.

Take a look at Athenian’s 2013 and 2012 contest winners, too.

Kiana A-K., Annemarie A., Jordon D., Nene E., Jake G., Jackson K., Madeleine K., Jonah K., Will M., Jenna T., Joshua T., Timmy W. (The Athenian School)

2014 was on fire so listen up!
The Giants took the Series, and Germany took the Cup
Ferguson police force showin’ no mercy
Eric Garner and Tamir all causin’ controversy
On the world stage Russia tries to reign supreme
While ISIS spills innocent blood by terrorist means
Ebola took so many and we’re looking for a cure
Whether we’ll stop it soon is still not yet sure
And because Taylor Swift couldn’t let it go
Her album buried Elsa in the snow
Rogen and Franco better leave soon
Or face the wrath of Kim Jong-Un
Williams and Rivers left the world with a side stitch
While Seymour Hoffman left Hunger Games in a ditch
Maya Angelou knew why the caged bird sings
But now in passing she’s finally found her wings…

Audrey A., Ryan B., Kelia H., Jun K., Mara K., Natalie K., Anthony O., Zach O., James P., Vidya R., Bobby S., Annalise S., Nicole T., Christian T., Kristina Y. (The Athenian School)

In 2014 footage rocked us to our core
We saw Eric Garner fall to the floor
Ray Rice in the elevator will go down in lore
But what happened to Mike Brown after he left the store?
So much money being spent in this world
We got Kanye spending 12 mil on his girl
7 to 10 million per day to fight ISIS
And don’t forget the costly Ukrainian crisis
Some say North Korea hacked Sony—Outrageous!
But when Ebola hit hard, health workers were courageous
And Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize
On girl’s education she won’t compromise