RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
On tomorrow's show, we're going to hear one of the grand prize winners in the NPR Student Podcast Challenge. Our two champions - one from middle school, one from high school - were chosen from nearly 6,000 entries.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Picking a winner from all those was hard. So today we share some of the entries we received.
MARTIN: In all, more than 25,000 students participated...
INSKEEP: Wow.
MARTIN: ...In this challenge from all 50 states. We heard from cities and suburbs and rural areas, big schools, small ones.
Students at Jessie Beck Elementary School in Reno, Nev., brought us a podcast about tater tots.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #1: Here's what some more people have to say about tater tots.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #2: I like tater tots because they're mushy and not so crunchy like fries.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #1: Here's someone who doesn't like tater tots at all.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #3: I don't like tater tots 'cause they're greasy, mushy, lumpy and they're really weird shaped.
INSKEEP: Get your "Napoleon Dynamite" reference in now - covering all sides of the tater tots story there.
MARTIN: Right.
INSKEEP: Sixth-graders at Clearwater Fundamental Middle School in Florida also aimed for journalistic balance in their submission.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
AUDREY: In today's podcast, we are going to be talking about - which is a better exotic house pet, skunks or hedgehogs? I'm Audrey (ph), pro-hedgehogs.
SOPHIA: And I'm Sophia (ph), pro-skunks.
MARTIN: Pro-skunks. So...
INSKEEP: Ready for Washington reporting there.
MARTIN: Right. We also got some really sound-rich podcasts. Listen to this one.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
OLIVER OKINOR: What you are hearing are the sounds of ice carving.
(SOUNDBITE OF ICE CARVING)
OLIVER: My name is Oliver Okinor (ph). I go to school at Joy Elementary. I'm in 6th grade, and I am here at the 2019 World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska.
INSKEEP: Wow. A lot of these students also addressed more serious issues.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
HAYDEN: Hello. My name is Hayden (ph), and I love video games.
INSKEEP: Hayden is an eighth-grader at Hudson Middle School in Ohio.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
HAYDEN: But sometimes, they can affect the way you think, eat, sleep, concentrate and much more. I'm going to be getting into all that today.
MARTIN: Wow. Out of Montana, fifth-graders at the Crow Agency Public School told us about life on the Crow Reservation and addressed misconceptions and stereotypes they believe people have about them.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #4: People think we still live in tepees and still hunt for food.
INSKEEP: And some of you shared your personal stories.
STELLAN PETTO: Hi. I'm Stellan, and I'm transgender. This is my story.
INSKEEP: Stellan Petto is a sixth-grader at the J. Graham Brown School in Louisville, Ky. After trying therapy and doctors, Stellan's mom asked him a simple question.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
STELLAN: Well, what would you change about yourself? - she asked. Oh, Mama, that's easy. I will change everything. I want to be a boy.
MARTIN: Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories and your podcasts with us. And tune in tomorrow when we will bring you the winning podcast from a middle school in the Bronx, where students took on a topic they said adults didn't feel comfortable talking about. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.