Tri-Cities podcaster ‘captured the hearts’ of listeners. Now, he’s a NPR finalist
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- Delta High senior Owyn Aaberg named NPR finalist for student podcast contest
- Podcast reflects on cleft palate experiences, family sacrifice and resilience
- Aaberg's story featured on NPR's 'All Things Considered' in September 2025
A Pasco student’s audio project about his life growing up with a cleft palate is among the “best student podcasts in America,” according to National Public Radio.
Owyn Aaberg, a senior at Delta High School, says he “never thought in a million years” he’d be a finalist in NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge.
But after his mom got a phone call at home from Principal KC Bennion, Aaberg got the good news and he couldn’t believe it — it was the first time in his life that something left him speechless.
Nearly 2,000 entries from across the U.S. were submitted for the 7th annual Student Podcast Challenge.
Its selection of 21 middle school and high school finalists represents the top 1% of quality storytelling and creativity as selected by a panel of national judges and NPR’s education team.
Two grand prize winners will be selected by the end of September, one for middle schoolers and one for high schoolers. Nearly 70 other entrants have been recognized as honorable mentions.
But Aaberg’s podcast is special. That’s because part of it was featured in a 3-minute segment in a Sept. 9 edition of NPR’s flagship program, “All Things Considered.”
‘Luckiest people I know’
“I think that I’ve always been one of the luckiest people I know,” Aaberg told the Tri-City Herald.
He was born with a bilateral cleft palate. In his podcast, titled “Struggling with a Cleft Palate,” Aaberg weighs the impact the common facial deformity has had on his life and the challenges his mother went through.
He interviews her about what it was like learning about his condition — which a doctor described as a 9 out of 10 severity — and her struggles raising him, as well as how he came to terms with what made him unique.
From challenges feeding him as a baby to frequent back-and-forth trips to the dentist and for surgery, Aaberg says his mother sacrificed a lot to ensure he survived and thrived.
“I’ve always had a family that has supported me and has unconditionally believed I can do what I want, and has pushed me toward that,” Aaberg said.
“And I know there are people who are not as lucky as me, and people who have been bullied for something they have no control over, and in some instances people don’t understand it. I feel like we should all be lucky, and we should all have someone we can fall back on and someone to love and cherish,” he continued.
The Delta senior also weighs his outcome against that of a Katrina Lauderdale, a Spokane child with a similar condition who died in 2007 at less than 3 months old.
She starved to death, weighing 3 ounces less than her birth weight.
Feeding a child with a cleft palate is intricate and time-consuming, and requires special feeding devices and close monitoring. Her parents stopped going to weekly doctor visits after moving and struggling with employment.
“Having the knowledge that if life had been a little more unkind, I would have never made it this far,” Aaberg narrates in the podcast. “I’m not alone. There are thousands — maybe millions — of people across the globe who have the same exact situation as me, but life is crueler to them.”
At the same time, Aaberg has learned not to let what he was born with define him as a person.
He’s instead embraced the topic, having researched the medical condition thoroughly for multiple assignments and having become something of a campus expert.
‘Really captured the hearts’ of listeners
Language arts teacher Clare Miller describes Aaberg as a “very warm” kid who has an “inviting” personality.
His podcast was the basis for a final research project for a college-level English class taught by Miller. She submitted about 10 student works to NPR for the podcast challenge, but Aaberg’s was certainly among the crop’s most unique.
“It really captured the hearts of all who listened to it,” Miller said.
But to Aaberg, this was just another assignment. He recorded the entire thing using his phone, then transferred the files into a stock Microsoft editing software and overlaid music.
Miller said his podcast “flows very naturally” and that Aaberg’s storytelling has a conversational tone. Aaberg described the whole process as “humbling.”
“It’s a really compelling story, and it’s emotional and I thought it would get a good grade,” Aaberg admits. “I’ve never really viewed my life as that different, but now I view it from an outside perspective.”
Aaberg is the third Delta High School student to receive national recognition for his essay skills. Miller said two other students recently won and were an honorable mention in John Stossel student contests.
She says it’s exciting to see their kids “shine on a national stage.”
“With proper support, Delta students can compete anywhere and shine,” said Miller, adding that Aaberg is the only finalist from Washington. “I’m proud of Owyn.”
Aaberg lives in Kennewick with his four siblings. He’s involved in National Honors Society, speech and debate club and dabbles in photography.
He enrolled at Delta High School to pursue a career in STEM, but is considering becoming a teacher.
This story was originally published September 21, 2025 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Tri-Cities podcaster ‘captured the hearts’ of listeners. Now, he’s a NPR finalist."
