28-03-2025
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
Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nicolet students recognized for C-SPAN documentary
