Nicolet High School students take third prize award in C-SPAN video documentary contest
Three Nicolet High School students have a cash prize to split and recognition for their work in a national documentary contest.
Caitlin Reindl, Alexander Schmelzling and Brody Weiss took third prize and $750 for their video "Shots Fired, Your Message to the President." The video, created as a class project and later entered in the contest, explored what can be done to reduce gun violence. It was among over 1,700 entries from 42 states and Washington, D.C. The three Nicolet students were the only Wisconsin students to receive any prize award for their work.
"Of course, we always had it in the back of our minds, like it would be cool to win this thing, but we never thought it would get that far, especially being the only team from Wisconsin to be named," Schmelzling said.
Social studies teacher Katherine Romanesko advised the team, who credited her with answering their questions, providing input, proofreading, helping with research and wording interview questions in a nonbiased manner.
"She was a huge help in taking a look at those questions and making sure that the information and the requests of that information were coming off as clearly as possible," Schmelzling said.
"Research skills definitely were improved through this because we had to find reputable sources, go through a bunch of things, what's fact and what's not really true, so I guess there was a lot that was learned through this," Reindl said.
Both Schmelzing and Weiss said they learned how to conduct a formal interview.
"That formal interview process and formally asking what could be difficult questions and making sure your questions are non-biased from a journalistic perspective was something I feel like I gleaned," Schmelzling said.
Among the people the students interviewed for their project was Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. Schmelzling said they didn't expect to get the interview; Johnson's office initially said he wouldn't be available until after the contest submission deadline. But Schmelzling persevered, telling the mayor's office the students would still appreciate his voice, and pressing to get the interview earlier because of the deadline.
Johnson's office responded by offering an interview the next day.
"That was probably one of the coolest things we've done," Schmelzling said.
C-SPAN's annual contest focuses on encouraging students in grades six through 12 to use critical thinking about issues affecting their communities and the nation. This year, the channel asked students to create a five- to six-minute documentary video on the theme "Your Message to the President."
The most popular topics among entries were climate, environment and land use; K-12 education policies and the cost of college; health care and mental health; gun violence, school safety and firearm policies; and inflation, taxes, government spending and the economy, according to a news release.
The three Nicolet students were among 32 third-prize winners that C-SPAN selected nationwide. C-SPAN also awarded a grand prize, four first-prizes, 16 second prizes and 97 honorable mention prizes. The winner of the grand prize and $5,000 was Dermott Foley, a 10th-grader from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, for his video "Teens, Social Media and the Fentanyl Overdose Crisis."
The contest was divided into middle and high school categories. High school students competed regionally in three divisions, while middle school students competed nationally. C-SPAN chose the grand prize winner among both the high school and middle school levels nationally, C-SPAN's news release said.
To view the prize-winning videos, visit www.studentcam.org/studentcam-2025-prize-winners/.
Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nicolet students recognized for C-SPAN documentary
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Veterans slam Trump's ‘political' deployment of Marines and National Guard to LA: ‘Citizens are not enemy combatants'
Donald Trump's deployment of National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles is a thinly veiled 'authoritarian' and politically motivated attempt to inflame protests and crush dissent, veterans and legal experts warn. Trump is relying on federal law that allows the president to call up the National Guard to respond to domestic unrest, an action known commonly as federalizing the normally state-authorized Guard. Even then, those troops have only a limited mission in supporting federal law enforcement agents and federal buildings at the center of protests against the administration's mass deportation agenda. But now, with his National Guard deployment combined with sending some 700 Marines to L.A., veterans groups, military law experts and Democratic officials fear the president is testing the limits of his authority to send active-duty military into American streets — and violating service members' commitments to stay out of domestic politics. 'When I joined the Marine Corps, I swore an oath — not to a person, not to a party, but to the Constitution,' said Marine veteran Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of the Vet Voice Foundation, a national nonpartisan advocacy group. 'What we're seeing now is a deliberate effort to turn the military into a political prop,' she told The Independent. Trump is not deploying troops for national defense but 'domestic intimidation,' she added. 'That's not just just politicizing the military — it's crossing a dangerous line,' Goldbeck told The Independent. Trump's military threats are 'how authoritarian regimes take power' and signal the president's wider ambitions for 'the weaponization of the military for political gain,' according to veterans advocacy group Common Defense. 'The militarized response to protests in Los Angeles is a dangerous escalation that undermines civil rights and betrays the principles we swore to uphold,' Army veteran and Common Defense political director Naveed Shah said. 'The idea that Marines would be deployed to suppress the very people we're meant to protect is a disgrace. It's un-American,' Marine Corps veteran and Common Defense organizer Jojo Sweatt added. The last time a president federalized the National Guard against the will of a state governor was in 1965, when then-President Lyndon Johnson deployed troops to protect civil rights advocates marching from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery — two weeks after the violence of 'Bloody Sunday' on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Johnson did so after Alabama's segregationist Gov. George Wallace told the president that his state 'refuses to provide for the safety and welfare' of the marchers, according to Johnson's proclamation. But 60 years later, Trump is deploying troops not to defend civil rights activists but to protect law enforcement and federal property. Activating troops against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom'is bad for all Americans concerned about freedom of speech and states' rights,' retired Major Gen. Randy Manner said in a statement to Fox News. 'There are over a million badged and trained members of law enforcement in this country for the governor to ask for help if he needs it,' he added. 'While this is presently a legal order, it tramples the governor's rights and obligations to protect his people. This is an inappropriate use of the National Guard and is not warranted.' Trump's open-ended memo invoking military deployment does not single out Los Angeles or even California. It empowers the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth 'to employ any other members of the regular Armed Forces as necessary.' Carrie A. Lee, a former associate professor at the U.S. Army War College, called Trump's actions 'massive overreach' and 'crazy broad,' seemingly paving the way for the administration 'to use military force against protestors on American soil anywhere they want.' Invoking 'protective power' authority without any geographical limits effectively creates an unprecedented and 'dangerous' nationwide order, according to Lee. Trump has not invoked the Insurrection Act, though the president and administration officials have repeatedly labeled protesters 'insurrectionists' and 'seditionists' — sparking fears that the president is laying the groundwork for mass deployment of military assets across the country. Instead, Trump is currently relying on a far more limited statute that taps his 'protective power' authority, which does not allow the military to conduct law enforcement activities — unlike the Insurrection Act, which is excluded from federal statute that bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement. 'The public must be laser focused on seeing the extent to which Secretary Hegseth adheres to these historically recognized limitations,' according to University of Houston Law Center professor Chris Mirasola, a former attorney-advisor at the Department of Defense Office of General Counsel. If troops are pulled into violent confrontations, Trump could use those incidents to justify invoking the Insurrection Act, opening the door for active-duty military to face off against Americans not just in the streets of Los Angeles but across the country. 'This is an unnecessary, unprecedented and predictable misuse of military power against American citizens,' according to Army veteran Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. 'And Trump has now thrust our troops into the middle of the most explosive issue in America,' he added. 'And this is likely just the start. We could see a clash and crisis between Trump and governors and mayors across America like we've never seen.' A lawsuit from watchdog group American Oversight called the deployment 'an opening salvo in a coordinated national strategy and not simply an isolated incident.' The lawsuit is seeking records from the Trump administration regarding the use of military assets in immigration enforcement and 'potential authorities his administration would invoke to authorize federalizing law enforcement.' 'Deploying the military to quash protests over the administration's inhumane and legally dubious immigration policies — especially over the objection of elected state leaders — is a dangerous, though unfortunately predictable, escalation by the Trump administration,' according to American Oversight executive director Chioma Chukwu. 'If left unchecked, this abuse of power under thin legal pretense can be readily replicated across other states in the future,' he said in a statement. 'Americans have a right to know who authorized it, what rationale was offered, and not just whether the government crossed a line — but by how much that line has been obliterated.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Johnson, backing Trump's LA actions, says Newsom should be 'tarred and feathered'
Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday once again aligned himself with President Donald Trump, saying the president is "absolutely right" to send the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles as protests over against Immigration and Customs Enforcement continue -- and sided with the president's criticism of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, adding that the California governor should be "tarred and feathered." Johnson said Trump is "fully in his authority right now to do what he is doing" to "maintain order" -- including deploying 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 Marines to Los Angeles as demonstrators clash with law enforcement amid the protests. "President Trump has put his hand on the table and said 'Not on my watch,' and we applaud that so we're standing with him," Johnson said during a news conference. MORE: Trump said it would be 'great' to arrest Newsom. Their stormy relationship and the politics at play. Johnson would not weigh in on whether Newsom should be arrested -- a suggestion Trump made Monday -- but said Newsom should be "tarred and feathered." "Look, that's not my lane. I'm not going to give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested, but he ought to be tarred and feathered," the speaker said. Newsom fired back in a post on X: "Good to know we're skipping the arrest and going straight for the 1700's style forms of punishment. A fitting threat given the @GOP want to bring our country back to the 18th Century." The California governor responded to Trump's arrest comment on Monday, calling it "an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism." Johnson accused Newsom of focusing more on rebranding himself than protecting the state and its citizens. "Do your job, man. That's what I tell Gavin Newsom, do your job," Johnson added. "Stop working on your rebranding and be a governor. Stand up for the rule of law. And he's not doing that." Newsom has called the deployments by Trump "a blatant abuse of power" and sued the administration over the move. Johnson took the opportunity to plug the House-passed tax and immigration bill, which the Senate is negotiating. The immigration woes at the center of the Los Angeles protests can be remedied by the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" that supports Trump's legislative agenda, Johnson said. He called on Democrats to end the "chaos" and "nonsense" and support the bill. The legislation boosts spending for the military and border security as well as extends the Trump 2017 tax cuts -- while making some cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other assistance programs. It could also add $3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. MORE: What is the Insurrection Act, and what happens if Trump uses it to quell LA protests? Other congressional Republicans appear to be in lockstep behind Trump and his decision to deploy National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles. "... What [Trump's] doing [is] enforcing the rule of law," Republican Rep. Ralph Norman said, adding that "Trump's doing the right things." Republican Rep. Ron Estes said he supports Trump's decision and said he believes "it's important that we have the rule of law and order in the United States." Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer said that he supported Trump's decision to deploy the Marines, saying he hopes their presence "deters" people from violence and brings "peace." "Hopefully their presence will be a deterrent to violence. Obviously, there's a right to assemble, and there's a right to peacefully protest -- and then there's what they're doing. So clearly, the state needs help, and the president's sending help, hopefully, hopefully it'll bring some peace," Cramer said. Cramer said that Trump, as the president and therefore the authority on federal immigration policy, has a "responsibility" to act in response to the protests. "The president has a responsibility to the United States, and he has a federal nexus with regard to immigration policy, and he's exercising it, and I think he's exercising exactly what he said he'd do and what people elected him to do," Cramer said. MORE: Johnson: Trump did 'exactly what he needed to do' in sending National Guard to LA Republican Sen. John Kennedy backed Trump's decision to deploy the troops. "I think he didn't have a choice," Kennedy told ABC News of Trump's move to deploy the National Guard and Marines. "I think he needs to follow the law, but I think he needs to send in federal troops because it's clear to me the governor and the mayor were going to do nothing. Zero, zilch, nada. He might have met with the rioters and offered them a cup of hot cocoa and a hug and some enthusiastic encouragement, but in terms of containing the riots, they weren't going to do anything." Several Republican senators were quick to criticize Newsom, too. Republican Sen. John Cornyn said he thought Newsom "probably would love it" if there were an effort to arrest him. "Make him a hero and a martyr," Cornyn jested.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Immigrant Who Prosecutors Say Was Framed for Threat Can Be Freed, Judge Says
A judge ruled on Tuesday that an undocumented immigrant who prosecutors said was wrongly accused of threatening the president could be released on bond while the government seeks to have him deported. The man, Ramon Morales Reyes, who worked as a dishwasher at a Milwaukee restaurant, was arrested last month and accused by the Department of Homeland Security of writing a letter threatening to assassinate President Trump. Days later, Wisconsin prosecutors said Mr. Morales Reyes had been framed by another man who had written the letter to get Mr. Morales Reyes arrested by immigration officials before he could testify against him in a robbery trial. Even after Milwaukee County prosecutors filed identity theft and witness intimidation charges last week against the other man, Demetric D. Scott, a lifelong resident of Wisconsin, the Department of Homeland Security left online a news release accusing Mr. Morales Reyes of making the threats. Mr. Morales Reyes was not charged with any crimes related to the threats, but has remained in jail in the immigration case since May 22. Supporters of Mr. Morales Reyes, who is from Mexico, called on federal officials to issue a correction to their news release, which included photos of Mr. Morales Reyes and of the threatening letter, handwritten in blue ink. That news release remained online as of Tuesday morning, though Homeland Security officials added a disclaimer to the bottom of the webpage acknowledging that he 'is no longer under investigation for threats against the president.' When Mr. Morales Reyes appeared by video in immigration court on Tuesday, Judge Carla Espinoza said she had found 'that the respondent is not currently a danger to the community' and that he could be released on $7,500 bond. The government has until next month to appeal that decision. A Homeland Security lawyer did not argue against Judge Espinoza's decision during the hearing. At a previous hearing, the federal government's lawyer said she believed Mr. Morales Reyes was eligible for bond. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
