Oceanside students win NPR podcast contest

A group of Oceanside Middle School students have earned high recognition for their podcasting skills. Originally started as a fourth-grade project at Oceanside School 6, their podcast recently won the NPR Student Podcast Challenge 2024. Now in eighth grade, these students are continuing their podcasting journey, showcasing their creativity and storytelling abilities.

Four Oceanside Middle School students, now eighth graders, Samantha Cohen, Santiago Ucciferri, Kai Sudo, and Alexis Susca, created a historical podcast in fourth grade that won NPR’s Student Podcast Competition.

Led by their then-teacher, Jennifer D’Amelio of School Eight, the podcast highlighted the causes of the American Revolution and stood out among hundreds of entries.

The podcast, part of a unit on the American Revolution, was originally conceived by D’Amelio in 2019 after the school won a grant to set up a podcast studio. D’Amelio, determined to find a creative way to engage her students, developed a project that merged research, writing, and performance. Instead of traditional essays, she challenged her students to craft historical fiction podcasts, allowing them to reimagine key events like the Boston Tea Party and the Quartering Act from unique angles.

“Why are my students doing all this research and not doing anything with it?” D’Amelio recalled thinking.

What made the start of this specific podcast even more challenging was the timing. It was created during the first year students returned to school following pandemic closures. With masks and social distancing in place, the team worked diligently to bring their podcast to life.

“It’s not fair to them that they’re going through this,” D’Amelio recalled thinking. “We set up the podcast equipment in portables and they wore their masks and each one of them put their mask down each time, and we were so able to record it. Who would have known it would have been the winning one?

The students’ podcast, titled Revolutionary Voices, was submitted as part of NPR’s first-ever competition for elementary school students. In fact, NPR had traditionally only allowed high school and college students to participate in their podcast contest until the expansion to include fourth through 12th graders. Seeing an opportunity, D’Amelio submitted not only the winning podcast but also seven other episodes from different years.

D’Amelio vividly remembers the moment NPR contacted her:

“I was contacted early August, and they told me that we had won the contest but needed to keep it quiet until they announced it,” she said. “I submitted eight episodes over the course of 2019 and they stood out the most.”

The podcast was eventually featured on NPR’s Morning Edition as part of a Fourth of July special, highlighting the students’ exploration of revolutionary history through a fresh lens.

The students, who acted out their roles with enthusiasm, look back fondly on the experience.

“I used to listen to podcasts with my dad, and that definitely inspired me,” said Ucciferri,said. His fluency in multiple languages, including Spanish, influenced his passion for podcasts on topics like World War II and Argentinian politics. For Kai Sudo, the experience was transformative. Initially hesitant about the idea of speaking in a British accent for his role, Sudo ended up delivering a stellar performance. His classmates and teacher still recall how he sounded like a seasoned actor.

“You would think he was going for an Oscar,” D’Amelio laughed, recalling the unexpected strength of Sudo’s performance.

Samantha Cohen and Alexis Susca also brought their own unique flair to the project, despite initial doubts about their abilities. Susca recalled the fun and laughter shared while recording, particularly during multiple takes when they would burst into giggles and have to start over.

“It was like 30 minutes of just redoing it because I kept messing up a word,” she reminisced.

Beyond the fun, the podcast also helped the students develop important academic and social skills.

“The research they did stuck with them in a way that studying for a test never would,” D’Amelio said.

The project encouraged public speaking, teamwork, and a deeper understanding of history and Ucciferri confirmed that the experience gave him a leg up in his later social studies classes, helping him achieve high marks in seventh grade.

“I knew everything about the Revolution,” he said.

The student’s success in the NPR competition not only validated their hard work but also reinforced the value of creativity in education.

D’Amelio, who has since moved to teaching fifth grade, hopes other educators will be inspired to introduce podcasting as a tool for learning.

“It brings their writing to life, and it’s such a creative outlet. It’s public speaking without the pressure of standing in front of a room, but they still know their voice is being heard.”

For the students, this project has become a lasting memory. They remain friends and frequently recall the experience.

The podcast has also sparked an interest in future careers for some. Ucciferri, whose mother worked as a journalist in Argentina, expressed an interest in following in her footsteps, possibly pursuing political science or teaching social studies.

“This group was special,” D’Amelio said. “There was something about it that just clicked. If they hadn’t won, I would have been surprised.”