It began with a small concept again in 2018, when NPR’s training workforce wished to know what was actually happening within the minds of younger individuals. We wished to listen to in regards to the issues that maintain college students up at evening, their obsessions and considerations, and tales they’re dying to get off their chest. So we created the Pupil Podcast Problem, a possibility for college students throughout the nation to file their tales and share them with NPR.
Little did we all know: Over the past six years, we have listened to greater than 17,000 podcasts from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. These tales, written and produced totally by college students, moved us and our listeners. They made us chortle, or cry, or simply pause as we listened to a fantastic story.
So lecturers, educators and college students, get able to do it another time!
The 2025 Student Podcast Challenge will open on Jan. 6 and shut on Might 2. As soon as once more the competition will probably be open to college students in grades 4 via 12.
So you will have a lot of the winter and spring educational time period to study and put one thing collectively which you could be happy with.
Is it your first time coming into our contest? Do not fret! We’re right here to assist, with loads of steering.
You can begin by studying the remainder of this announcement publish, and take a look at our scholar podcasting assets web page here. And subscribe to our newsletter for weekly updates from the competition workforce.
And, it is value declaring that a number of of our previous winners (together with each our center and highschool winners in 2023) had been first-time podcasters, so you are able to do it, too!
The fundamentals
The principles (which you can find in detail here) stay just about the identical: College students could make a podcast about any matter they’re keen on, so long as they maintain it between three to eight minutes.
A particular observe right here: Dad and mom and educators, step away from the microphone! Please, no podcasts produced or edited by adults. The entries needs to be authentic work by college students (see FAQ part beneath). We needed to disqualify some entries final 12 months for clearly breaking this rule.
And, college students, maintain it clear! No offensive language will probably be allowed.
However, college students do want the assistance of a trainer, educator or father or mother, who is eighteen years or older, to enter the competitors.
The place to get began
Selecting story is simply as, if no more, essential than your audio manufacturing or enhancing expertise. For instance, a few of our favourite entries from final 12 months included a personal story on parental incarceration, reporting on a young person’s experience learning to read with dyslexia and discussions on on a regular basis subjects like school lunch and teen fashion. Just a few of our finalists made pleasant fiction podcasts, like this one the place “oxygen” and “hydrogen” are in conversation.
Once more, you’ll be able to select any matter you want to discover. It would not should be an enormous essential topic – simply something that excites you! When you aren’t certain about your concept, run it by your pals, lecturers and household. Ask them what a part of your story they discover probably the most fascinating and take a look at zooming in on that.
Our judges will choose a center faculty and highschool grand prize winner. The grand prize features a certificates and trophy, and a go to from the NPR Ed workforce, who will interview you and your trainer for a narrative on NPR’s packages, corresponding to Morning Version or All Issues Thought-about.
For fourth graders – a brand new class we created final 12 months – we’ll choose the most effective entries and air some or all of these podcasts on NPR packages.
In earlier years, our winners and their podcasts have additionally been included on NPR podcasts like Up First or Code Change. They’ve additionally obtained extra recognition from their faculty or faculty districts, and lots of have been interviewed by native media. All that to say, it is a fantastic alternative to share your story and get lots of people to take heed to it.
‘Sound Recommendation’ from the competition workforce
Earlier than you hit the file button, take a look at our podcasting assets. We’ve (1) a starting out guide for student podcasters and (2) a curriculum guide for educators. We cowl every little thing from how to tell a good story, how to sound like yourself on mic to how to use music in your podcast, amongst different subjects. Even, and we’re critical about this: how making a pillow fort could make you sound higher!
There are different good assets on the market too: Try this audio storytelling toolkit and recording tutorial from our mates at PBS News Student Reporting Labs.
You will discover extra ideas and methods on The Students’ Podcast, which our workforce created that will help you make podcast. We additionally encourage you to get a really feel for what we’re in search of by listening to final 12 months’s high school winner and middle school winner, and former years’ successful entries here.
Fast FAQ
Listed below are a couple of questions we get time and again annually. For every other questions, do not hesitate to succeed in out to us at studentpodcastchallenge@npr.org.
What’s an acceptable approach lecturers and adults might be concerned?
All eligible contest entries should be written, recorded and produced by college students. We welcome lecturers and educators to include podcasting into their class curriculum and stroll college students via the fundamentals of audio recording and enhancing. And as part of this course of, we perceive that college students could also be getting suggestions from the adults concerned. Backside line, we please ask the adults to not get their very own fingers on their college students’ tasks.
Am I allowed to make use of this track or sound impact in my podcast?
Here is an excerpt from our rules page that discusses music and copyrighted audio:
“Pre-recorded music is probably not used. Entrants might embody dwell performances of public area songs or non-copyrightable rhythm parts whether it is related to the story. For avoidance of doubt, for the needs of those Official Guidelines, “public area” doesn’t imply “publicly obtainable”; it signifies that copyright has expired and the fabric is not underneath copyright safety. We encourage Entrants to err on the aspect of excluding music if the Entrant just isn’t certain whether or not the music is copyrighted or not.”
You should utilize your personal audio, interviews, area recordings or pure sound, music or sound results you recorded for the podcast. We advise not utilizing audio if the scholar is not certain about copyright.
On our entry type, we ask you to verify that any music in your podcast is both copyright free, or self-produced.
Can I submit multiple podcast?
Sure! You may submit as many entries as you would like. Simply be certain that every of your podcast entries are (1) between three and eight minutes in size and (2) do not use copyrighted audio. We would not need any of your work to be disqualified.
And we actually do pay attention to each single entry. So whether or not it is you and your good friend’s podcast, a category project or a ardour venture you are lastly placing collectively, we’re excited to listen to from you and take heed to no matter you bought for us.
And, as we stated above, for extra ideas, recommendation and the newest updates on this 12 months’s contest, be certain that to join our weekly newsletter. College students, we won’t wait to listen to your tales. Good luck!
