The Idaho Law Foundation’s Law Related Education Program is proud to announce that three Idaho students were selected for prizes in the Foundation’s award-winning Annual Law Day Podcast Contest. Student podcasts explored the 2021 Law Day theme celebrating the importance of advancing the rule of law. Podcasts explored how to promote the rule of law to better defend liberty and create a more just society.

The top three student entries include:

• First Place: Sophia Willmorth, One Stone, Boise. Sophia is in tenth grade. Her podcast focused on the relationship between law and morality.
• Second Place: Sarah Cole, Mountain View High School, Meridian. Sarah is a senior. Her podcast explored the application of American civil liberties throughout US history.
• Third Place: Isabel Martin, One Stone, Boise. Isabel is a ninth grader. She created her podcast about inequalities in the American foster care system.

For the 2021 Podcast Contest, the Law Foundation began awarding an honorarium to the school of the winning student. Allison Parker and Jun Campion of One Stone offered their congratulations to Sophia and Izzy for their incredibly hard work on their winning entries. They indicated that the Podcast Contest has been a rich learning opportunity for One Stone students.

The Law Day Podcast Contest is open to Idaho high school students. Entrants submit 5 to 10-minute audio podcasts and can create their podcast individually or in groups. For 2021, the contest was sponsored by the Fourth District Bar Association, whose financial contribution allowed the Foundation to award prizes the top three entries along with an honorarium to the school of the first-place student.

Podcasts were critiqued by a panel of judges that included educators and attorneys. The judges scored the submissions on content, delivery, and production. One of the judges, Hon. Jessica Lorello, said, “I loved judging the podcast contest. The students are so creative in their presentations and thoughtful about the rule of law topic assigned in the prompt.  It’s so inspiring to see (and hear!) students involved in civics education!”

The Idaho Law Foundation would like to thank our judges and sponsors for their support of the Podcast Contest. We appreciate their dedication to advancing civic education in our state.

The podcast entries can be accessed from the Law Foundation’s website. For more information about the Law Day Podcast Contest, contact Carey Shoufler, Idaho Law Foundation Law Related Education Director.