The NPR Student Podcast Challenge is underway. Students in grades 4-12 are challenged to create a three to eight-minute podcast on any topic.
The contest was started in 2018 right after the shooting at Parkland High School in Florida when many students were becoming advocates and speaking out about gun violence, said Steve Drummond, senior editor at NPR and who also works on the project.
"And so we decided to try and create a place where students could tell their own stories in their own voices," he said. "As you know, it's very different than a grownup interviewing a student and asking them questions. When they're speaking to their peers or they're speaking to themselves, it creates a different voice and a different kind of storytelling."
As with any creative project, often the most difficult part is getting started. NPR Producer Janet Lee, who also works with the Student Podcast Challenge, suggests students focus on something they really care about.
“I know one year we had something about tater tots, and the student just wanted to know what their classmates thought about tater tots to something a little more serious and journalism-y," she said. "But it's all journalism, but something a bit more serious in local reporting — about the water crisis and water shortage in Mississippi. So we really do get a range of topics, just really anything that you are kind of like, 'this is something I'm passionate about.' "
Lee said the biggest thing they look for when judging is good storytelling.
The Student Podcast Challenge page at npr.org offers lots of advice, from choosing a topic to how to sound like yourself on mic to how to use music in your podcast. There’s even a curriculum guide for educators. Drummond said they've heard from teachers from around the country who have told them the challenge is a great way to teach creative writing, to introduce them to journalism and to have them work together in group projects.
You don’t need fancy equipment, according to Drummond and Lee, just a smartphone, a laptop and some easily available editing software.
The deadline for students to enter is May 2.
