Call For Entries To 2020 NPR Student Podcast Challenge

Class: get your microphones ready. NPR is seeking podcast submissions from Massachusetts and across the country for the second annual Student Podcast Challenge.

Students are asked to turn a topic or lesson into a podcast between 3 and 12 minutes long. Submissions are due March 24, 2020. The first-place winners – one from middle (5-8 grade) and one from high school (9-12 grade) will have part of their podcasts aired nationally on Morning Edition and All Things Considered, a visit from an NPR or member station journalist and a trophy. You can find more details such as the official rules, submission guidelines and prompts on NPR’s website.

Need some inspiration? This year, NPR has created a handy listening guide: the Student Podcast Challenge podcast. You can subscribe to WBUR’s podcasts such as Kind World, Circle Round or Endless Thread. And, check out the WBUR Edify series “Lessons Learned” for examples of powerful non-narrated audio stories.

About 25,000 students submitted podcasts for last year’s challenge. And if you’re submitting from Massachusetts this year, WBUR’s Edify team wants to hear from you! Let us know here: WBUR-Mktg@bu.edu so we can be sure to listen. And stay tuned for an upcoming event to highlight some of that work and talk about student podcasts.