Rodent Rap Nets Middle School Pest Grant

If there's one thing the students from hate it's pests.

Their aversion to rodents and insects of all varieties is so great that for the third consecutive year the middle school was named the winner of the National Pest Management Association's PSA Contest. The students' winning rat-rap contest entry, titled appropriately "I Hate Rats," earned the middle school a $3,000 grant.

With useful facts, including the number of babies a single rat mother can spawn in a year, as well as the rodent's role in spreading the Bubonic Plague, the rap keeps it educational while maintaining a hip flow over a hot beat. The minute-long clip features several middle school students from Project Lead the Way, a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, course.

According to the National Pest Management Association, students were challenged to create educational television PSAs highlighting the health and property risks posed by common household pests such as rodents, ants, cockroaches and stinging insects - the second place winner, a school from California, placed with their entry "Flea on Trial."

Entries were judged on originality, creativity, health messaging and overall appeal, a release from the association stated.

Red Bank Middle School is no stranger to . In addition to the NPMA contest, which the school has won every year since its inception, the middle school has earned tens of thousands of dollars through a number of different sources, including other video contests and online financing platforms.

Chris Ippolito, who teaches Project Lead the Way, was honored as the middle school's because of his help creating high-profile, award winning videos with school students.