Author: Janet W. Lee

Fifth graders Kenley Taylor (left) and Gabby De Sa (right) work on story outlining during a MagTV morning meeting at Magnolia Elementary School in Carlsbad, Calif. Alan Nakkash for NPR hide caption toggle caption Alan Nakkash for NPR It’s before school on a crisp Friday morning in Carlsbad, Calif. Andrew Luria is rallying the kids in his newsroom. “How many of you guys didn’t do your homework?” Luria asks the 10- and 11-year-old journalists. Nearly half the students in his broadcasting club, sitting on the floor of their multipurpose room, raise their hands. “Wow, my own daughter?” he responds with…

It all started with a small idea back in 2018, when NPR’s education team wanted to know what was really going on in the minds of young people. We wanted to hear about the things that keep students up at night, their obsessions and concerns, and stories they’re dying to get off their chest. So we created the Student Podcast Challenge, an opportunity for students all around the country to record their stories and share them with NPR. Little did we know: Over the last six years, we’ve listened to more than 17,000 podcasts from all 50 states, the District…