2024 Student Podcast Challenge Honorable Mentions

Here are the honorable mentions from the 2024 Student Podcast Challenge. Listen to our fourth grade winners here; the middle school grand prize winner here; and our high school grand prize winner here.

Thanks again to students, teachers and mentors for being a part of our annual contest! And a special shout out to those who participated in our first-ever fourth grade contest this year. You rock!

Please share your experience, send us photos and give us feedback at studentpodcasthcallenge@npr.org. And subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.

Hope to hear from you again in 2025!

Fourth Grade

Author Grace Wolf from The Davis Academy Author Podcast Series – Hannah Goldman and Caleb Lapidus, The Davis Academy in Atlanta.

Guess with Tess – Tessa Bausch, Cynwyd Elementary School in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

Super S's Podcast – Afton Weaver, Lucy Cook and Tenley Ryant, Washington Elementary School in Mt. Vernon, Iowa

Middle School

A Loathe of Reading – James Chen and Daniel Lin, Herricks Middle School in Albertson, N.Y.

A Podcast About Podcasts! – Fiona Quinn, Jefferson Elementary School in Mount Vernon, Wash.

A Tree of Two Cultures – Adelynn Wang, Pinewood School in Los Altos Hills, Calif.

Anxiety in Kids – Maddie Anderson, Prince of Peace Catholic School in Plano, Texas

Behind the Lie: A Deep Dive into the Truth – Lena Hurwitz, Jen Puckey and Celest Priyanto, Twelve Corners Middle School in Rochester, N.Y.

Benefits for Youth in Community Theatre – Milena Blavascuna-Otterness, Libby Burt and Emily Armstrong, Pioneer Middle School in Walla Walla, Wash.

Beyond the Dress: Exploring Quinceañeras Today – Vera Giraudo, Avenues the World School in New York, N.Y.

Brimful Breakdown of the Brain – Gabby Kappy, Twelve Corners Middle School in Rochester, N.Y.

Clash of the Conflict – Bella Rivera, Diana Ocotl and Valeria Gonzalez, Charles N. Holden Elementary in Chicago.

Climate Change – Gabriela Rodriguez and Phillipe Kim, Tenakill Middle School in Closter, N.J.

Covid Impacts – Kimberly Savalza, Alexa Ramos, Frania Chairez and Preston Bauer, Enumclaw Middle School in Enumclaw, Wash.

Drastic Plastic – Tessa Lasry, Hallie Pomilio and Addysen Rogers, Rocky Heights Middle School in Lone Tree, Colo.

Dungeons & Decisions – Blake Sabolboro and Claud Tung, Herricks Middle School in Albertson, N.Y.

Flaws of Friendship – Charlotte West and Evelyn Sauer in Westwood Elementary School, Enumclaw, Wash.

Girls with Dyslexia – Cate Carlson, Emma Sandifer, Zainab Aden and Eva Howe, Hamlin Robinson School in Seattle, Wash.

HBMS Bilingual Ambassadors - From America to Zambia – Gabriel Garcia, Maddox Lambert, Erick Lagunas-Rosales, Keshav Parikh, Iris Soriano Eltman and Justin Serpico, Hannah Beardsley Middle School in Crystal Lake, Ill.

How have you Changed in Three Years – Madison Tieu, Vincent Lee, Camila Vazquez and Mia Lo, Mesa Robles Middle School in Hacienda Heights, Calif.

Local Lore – Juniper McKenna and Ruby Ream, Lincoln School in Providence, R.I.

Middle Schoolers Around the World – Celeste Dufayet and Constance Dufayet, Pacific Trails Middle School in San Diego, Calif.

More Than Just a Meal – Emma Hsieh, Pinewood School in Los Altos Hills, Calif.

Overcoming Trauma – Lyla Woodall and Alexa Reidel, The Wellington School in Columbus, Ohio

Read MyMind – Ngozichukwu Ikechukwu, CMIT South Academy in Upper Marlboro, Md.

Roblox vs. Fortnite – Ariel Shub, Shelly Vahaba and Jattia Gaggl, Acton Academy of Bergen County in Closter, N.J.

The Double-Edged Sword of Busy Schedules – Joyce Yan, Pinewood School in Los Altos Hills, Calif.

The COVID Effect – Elise Ordinario Peyton Wu, Evelyn Huang and Jayden G. Ly, Mesa Robles Middle School in Hacienda Heights, Calif.

The Death of Breathing – Mia Wright, Charles N. Holden Elementary in Chicago.

The Education Situation – Kellie Chung, Davidson Academy Online in Reno, Nevada

The Lock – Owen Lockefeer and Kellan Mazur, Carleton Washburne School in Winnetka, Ill.

The Places You'll Go – Madelyn Carlson and Emme Riddell, Westwood Elementary School in Enumclaw, Wash.

The Tastebud Test – Carver Redding and Graham Clegg, The Learning Community School in Swannanoa, N.C.

Tik Tok Takedown – Liri Cohen, Nina Iacono and Victoria Jaime, PS 163 The Alfred E. Smith School in New York City.

Understandable But Unforgivable – Blake Armistead, Pinewood School in Los Altos Hills, Calif.

Weakness Fears Her – Owen Dacey, Enumclaw Middle School in Enumclaw, Wash.

What Are Hot Dogs? – Angel Hope, Camden Paine, Quinn Deasy and Blake Walstad, Jefferson Elementary School in Mount Vernon, Wash.

What Kids Should Know, But Parents Don't Understand - Being Told What To Do – Avery Miron, Luke Musto and Alex Champagne, Lake George Elementary School in Lake George, N.Y.

Which is better: frozen yogurt or ice cream? – Selah Goebel and Hadassah Casebolt, Evansville Lutheran School in Evansville, Ind.

Who is the Greatest? – Johnny Eilers, Chase Ellis and Nate Gold, Carleton Washburne School in Winnetka, Ill.

Who or What are We PT.2 - S2, EP17 – Margaret James, Estelle Peterson and Victoria Pearson, Whitehorse Middles School in Madison, Wis.

Why the *BLEEP* Can't I Say That? – Jackie Wentz, Ya'el Cohen, Noah Garza and Jamie West, Garrison Middle School in Walla Walla, Wash.

You've Got to Be Joking Me – Evelyn Hess, Meredith Nelson, Aravis Sandven and Adalynn Behne, Garrison Middle School in Walla Walla, Wash.

High School

Affordable Housing – Kate, Jermaine, Marin Academy in San Rafael, Calif.

Another Underwhelming Meal at School – Danica Belingon and Aarya Patel, The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus, Miss.

Are Museums Dead? – Ava Canade, Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Are You Allowing Yourself Enough Grace? – Andrea Jimenez, Morton East High School in Cicero, Ill.

Bet On It – Spencer Elisofon, Dylan Frassica, Ricky Morrison and CJ O'Toole, Newton South High School in Newton Centre, Mass.

Bowling – Helem Olea, Morton East High School in Cicero, Ill.

Breaking Point: Men's Mental Health – Sebastian Palacios and Spencer Sadeya, Pompano Beach High School in Pompano Beach, Fla.

Buckle Up! Mississippi Teenagers Are Driving – Kayla Williams and Eric Macasek, The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus, Miss.

Can you separate the art from the artist? – Rustin Mirhaji and Sungjae Cho, Edgemont Jr./Sr. High School in Scarsdale, N.Y.

Changing the Game: Exploring the Rise of College Women's Basketball – Katie Horvath-Wulf, Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md.

Climate Change Education – Brooke Bent and Charlie Haslett, Marin Academy in San Rafael, Calif.

Climate Change in California – Callie Zimmerman and Evan Smorgan, Marin Academy in San Rafael, Calif.

Colors – Zac, Ava, Matisse, Marin Academy in San Rafael, Calif.

Demon House – Makyla Adams, Katelynn Stasko and Kayla Blanche, Hammond Central High School in Hammond, Ind.

Dilly Dally Sit back, relax, and lets Dilly Dally with Purvi and Ally Ep 1.You're Asian?! – Ally Pagulayan and Purvi Rao, The Morris County School of Technology, Denville, N.J.

Echoes of Ukraine: Exploring the Folk Tale Legacy – Clara Bodniewicz, Tallwood High School in Virginia Beach, Va.

Eco-Emotions & the Media: A Fiery Storm – Henry Joesph Wooster and Finn Does, Marin Academy in San Rafael, Calif.

Flip the Menu: Restaurant Woes in a Small Town – Salvatore Biscotto and Calvin Landreth, Anderson Career and Technology Center in Williamston, S.C.

Flipping the 'For You Page': TikTok's Ownership Rethinked – Mia Tamarkin, Mercer Island High School, Mercer Island, Wash.

From Flophouses To Thriving Businesses: The Gentrification of Chicago's West Loop – Rika Nishikawa in Chicago Ill.

From Refinery to Rise of Action: How everyone can play a role in making change – Eve Sarti and Olivia Koepple in Marin Academy in San Rafael, Calif.

Future Redefined – Hiya Patel and Nicole Ouyang, Chattahoochee High School in Johns Creek, Ga.

Generational Pressure. The Struggles Of Being First Gen – Rosendo Rodriguez Garcia, Christof Bravo and Emmanuel Esparza, Hoover High School in San Diego, Calif.

Gen Z Productivity – Bertie Farrar and Carolina Areheart, Webb School of Knoxville in Knoxville, Tenn.

Get Ready With Me: Bharatanatyam Style – Leena Mirchandani, The Peddie School in Hightstown, N.J.

Hometown Hate Crime – Leia Dotan and Shir Keler, Newton Centre, Mass.

How We Live with Depression (As High Schoolers) – Boston McGhee and David Weeks, Fort Walton Beach High School in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

Is Mississippi Legislature Failing Youth?: An In-Depth Analysis of Mississippi's Sex Education Laws – CharLese Shield and Naomi Simpson, The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus, Miss.

Is your curly hair beautiful?: Exploring the twists of curly hair – Yaretzi Meza and Margaret Stafford, Holy Names High School in Oakland, Calif.

Junior Operators – Matteo Lee, Newton South High School in Newton Centre, Mass.

Learning the Value of Protected Speech – Mary Jo Sommers, Oregon High School in Oregon, Wis.

Living the Teenage Dream – Addison Kreger, Perry High School in Massillon, Ohio

Lunch Money: Nourishing Minds – Diego Marin, Owen Salgado, Mychal Nuno and Kaarlo Anderson, DPNews, Goleta, Calif.

Metro Meltdown - The Story of a Failing System – Joseph Newman, Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md.

Much Needed Change – Sophia Thorne and Arabelle Fracisco, South High School in Minneapolis, Minn.

Our Theory of Change – Ariya Lee and Nethra Purushothaman, Chantilly High School in Chantilly, Va.

Parents Just Don't Understand – Sienna Laragione, Andrew Friday and Jayden Dismukes, Robert G Cole High School in San Antonio, Texas

Postcard from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana – Max Hebert, Berchmans Academy in Grand Coteau, La.

Savoring Diversity with Pride – Ahlam Alfedil, Ligaya Santos and Edom Alemayehu, The Bush School in Seattle, Wash.

School vs. Work – Vanessa Hernandez, Morton East High School in Cicero, Ill.

Senioritis – Abigail Greenough, AJ Choo and Matt Sullivan, Thayer Academy in Braintree, Mass.

Settling for the Pig – Logan Harris Wood and Elizabeth Jade Brittain, The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus, Miss.

Shame – Briana Gonzalez, Elite Academic Academy in Temecula, Calif.

She's A Queen (And Why I Never Say That Anymore) – Lyndsay Mingolelli, Thayer Academy in Braintree, Mass.

Space Orphan Fable – Graham Bullock-Humphrey, Krista Mehlberg and Holden Johnson-Booth, Alameda Community Learning Center in Alameda, Calif.

Tapping In: The Scope of Human Trafficking – Tanseem Arampulikan and Tara Khurana, Kent Place School in Summit, N.J.

Televised War, The Hunger Games, and 10 Year Old Sephora Girls – Abbie Chang, Raquel Diaz and Deborah Chung, Bergen County Technical Schools - Teterboro Campus in Teterboro, N.J.

The 70s vs the 2000s – Olivia Mock, Kenmore West High School in Tonawanda, N.Y.

The City of SEPTA Love: How Public Transportation is Changing Philly Students – Sarah Zdancewic, Masterman School in Philadelphia.

The Circadian Complication – Elora Derbyshire and Sophia Jones, Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md.

The Downside to Neighborhood School Districts – Andrew Dowdy and Joycelyn Barner, The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus, Miss.

The Equitable Podcast- Food Memories from Rising Sun Senior Home – Eleisha Bogyah, Tshebia Hall, Spencer Holland and Noah Paul, Best Buy Teen Tech Center, Gold Crown Foundation in Lakewood, Colo.

The History Around Us: The Underground Railroad on Long Island – Sydney Spier, Roslyn High School in Roslyn Heights, N.Y.

The Man, The Myth, The Theory – Devin Kenji and Khyrizzane Coral, Kauai High School in Lihue, Hawaii

The Music Experience – Alex Lee, Morton East High School in Cicero, Ill.

The Value of Financial Literacy – Felipe Anaya, Iven Gonzalez, Ebony Jimenez, Noel Jimenez, Ariana Medina and Rafael Pina, Firebaugh High School in Firebaugh, Calif.

The Work I Do Outside of My Private School – Morgan Green, Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte, N.C.

Trench Coats – Julianne Chen, Anastasia Liberman, Christian Salvador and Ayumi Riza Becerrel, Fort Lee High School in Fort Lee, N.J.

Under the Surface: Unveiling the Impact of Drug Use on Small-Town Mississippi – Cratin Quinnelly and Carys Peden, The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus, Miss.

Under the Unlit Sky – Riley Goodwin, Grayson Kang and Ethan Leiner, Canyon del Oro High School in Oro Valley, Ariz.

Unseen Scars: The Neglect of Children and Its Lifelong Impact – Brandon Lopez-Tellez, CEC Early College of Denver.

Video Games and International Relations – Katie Wells, New Roads School in Santa Monica, Calif

What Makes A Student Protestor? – Sarah Addagadda, Tanish Doshi and Nihar Goulapally, BASIS Oro Valley, Oro Valley, Ariz.

Why We Love to Hate Ourselves – Oliver Butler, Skaneateles High School in Skaneateles, N.Y.

Congratulations again, everyone! Thanks again to all the students and teachers for being a part of our contest this year. We loved listening to every minute of your entries, and hope to hear from you again next year.

NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge for fourth graders, middle, and high school students will return in January 2025. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.

Know any college students? Our College Podcast Challenge is now open for entries through Jan. 10, 2025. Learn more about the contest here.