Latest news with #StudentCam
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Narragansett students earn national recognition for documentary spotlighting community challenges
NARRAGANSETT, R.I. (WPRI) — A group of Rhode Island students won a prestigious prize for their own documentary feature focusing on different topics. More than 3,500 students across 42 states participated in C-SPAN's 21st annual StudentCam competition, including some from Narragansett and Providence. Motivated by passion and purpose, they were able to show how young voices can drive change. 'We really wanted to raise awareness with our video, and just tell people about what could happen if we don't pay attention to this problem,' said sophomore Maya Kaufman. Philomena Dolos, Sarah Floody, and Mackenzie Giblin received a prize for their project, 'Lowering the Voting Age to 16.' 'We think that since we're we both work and we're paying taxes to the government, we should be able to vote for the government that we're paying taxes to,' said Dolos. 'Being in a government class this year, it just really enforces how important being involved, voting, government can be and how influential, and kind of impact you can have,' Floody added. In its 21st year, this project-based learning experience asked students to explore and analyze matters of personal, local, or national importance. 'We had to do a lot of research in class about what lowering the voting age would entail. We interviewed Secretary Gregg Amore, Representative Teresa Tanzi, and Kate Coleman, who is on the Narragansett seat on the Narragansett Board of Canvassers,' Dolo explained. 'We got their insights on what lowering the voting age would look like and we compiled all of our information into one big video with pictures and images and voiceovers.' ALSO READ: How much do RI beach passes cost for summer 2025? Kaufman and Sydney Madsen, also sophomores at Narragansett High School, were awarded $250 for their documentary 'Net Loss: Climate Change and the Seafood Crisis.' 'We eventually settled on climate change because it's very personal. It affects our town and our town's livelihood,' Kaufman said. 'Climate change, which will affect the ocean, then that could be pretty bad for our town, just economically and culturally,' Madsen added. 'We were working over breaks, working over weekends, coming in early to school, and we ended up interviewing a lot of people. We interviewed some marine biologists, some commercial fishermen. We interviewed our Senator Sheldon Whitehouse,' explained Kaufman. While the students gained recognition, they also discovered the importance of collaboration, resilience and the impact of sharing real stories. 'This is everybody's problem. It may just seem like a big issue, but for everybody there's a smaller impact that will affect their daily life if we don't do anything about climate change,' Kaufman noted. 'Climate change is way more nuanced than we thought it was.' 'It's really nice to get the recognition because we put in a lot of time for this. We definitely worked hard, and it was a pretty big project,' said Madsen. Students from Trinity Academy were also third-place prize winners, receiving $750 for their documentary, 'Smallest State Biggest Problem,' which focused on the issue of homelessness. Download the and apps to get breaking news and weather alerts. Watch or with the new . Follow us on social media: Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Olentangy student wins first place in documentary contest
POWELL, Ohio (WCMH) — Each year, C-SPAN holds a competition that allows middle and high school students to try their hand at documentary making, and a student in central Ohio took home one of the top prizes. Out of the nearly 3,500 students who entered C-SPAN's StudentCam competition this year, Olentangy Liberty freshman Ben Kurian was announced as the first-prize winner of the High School Central division. His film 'The Road to Vision Zero' is about using artificial intelligence to enhance road safety. It's just seven minutes long, but Kurian fit a lot of content into that short amount of time. All about six new laws in Ohio that go into effect today 'Over the past few years, we've been seeing an increase, really, in these road traffic deaths, and not much has really changed about the way we address it,' Kurian said. 'So I looked at potential solutions and saw that AI held some transformative potential.' Kurian ended up talking to ten different experts about AI and preventing traffic crashes, all while being a top student at Olentangy Liberty. He started working on the documentary around winter break. 'It was a really, I guess, busy two weeks for me trying to balance school coming back into session, and also those like ten whole interviews,' Kurian said. Kurian picked the Vision Zero topic because he heard of too many people losing their lives in traffic crashes, and his research showed AI can be a very helpful tool. 'Currently we have more of a reactive approach, whereas we find crashes and then make changes after those crashes happen,' Kurian said. 'But really what we need is a more proactive approach.' Dublin eyeing German-inspired holiday market for Bridge Park in 2026 Kurian said he got a lot of help along the way. His English teacher Aaron Rothey was his adviser in the competition. 'He asked me to look over it and offer any feedback that I could give him, so I watched it a few times,' Rothey said. 'I wrote down some notes, talked through the notes in the suggestions with him, and that was about it. It was really his thing.' As a first prize winner, Kurian got $3,000. He said he's looking forward to people seeing his work. 'Vision Zero really starts with all of us,' Kurian said. 'We all need to make a change for this.' 'The Road to Vision Zero' will air on C-SPAN on Saturday, April 19, at 6:50 a.m. with replays throughout the day. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
These South Jersey high school students won recognition in the national StudentCam contest
Multiple South Jersey high school students received recognition in C-SPAN's StudentCam competition. C-SPAN's 21st annual StudentCam competition had a theme this year of, "Your Message to the President: What issue is most important to you or your community?" It generated more than 1,700 entries from close to 3,200 students in 42 states and Washington, D.C. Here are the South Jersey students who were recognized and their topics of choice: More: Rowan College of Burlington County is back with an ex-firm. A top admin says it's illegal. 1st Prize winner — junior Daniel Aasa of Winslow Township High School — "Saving Sudan: U.S. Aiding in a Forgotten Crisis." Honorable Mention — juniors Ethan Slaughter and Nate Milstead of Moorestown High School — "The Housing Market Crisis." Honorable Mention — juniors Aerick Mallari, Carter Chew and Rishan Rashed of Egg Harbor Township High School — "It's The Economy stupid!" They were among 150 videos to be honored in this year's competition, winning cash prizes of $1,500, $750 or $250. Each submission was put in one of three regions: East, Central and West. Some of the most popular topics participants addressed were climate, education, health care, gun policies and government finances. Craig McAndrew, C-SPAN's director of education relations, congratulated the "extremely talented students" who won awards. 'Your documentaries set a very high bar for future StudentCam filmmakers, and you should be proud knowing your work will inspire your peers and foster thoughtful consideration from all audiences. We can't wait to see what you do next," McAndrew said. The competition was funded by the C-SPAN Education Foundation and judged by by a panel of educators and C-SPAN representatives. The award-winning videos can be viewed online at Nick Butler is an impact reporter for the Courier Post, the Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times covering community news in South Jersey. Have any tips or stories? Reach out to NButler@ Subscribe to stay in the loop. This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: They attend Winslow, Moorestown and Egg Harbor schools
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sacramento, Elk Grove students win C-SPAN's StudentCam Competition
( — C-Span announced Sacramento and Elk Grove students as the winners in their 21st annual StudentCam Competition today. Video Above: Local student joins Thirst Project C-SPAN said this year they asked students to address the theme, 'Your Message to the President: What issue is most important to you or your community?' The winners are: Inderkum High School student in Sacramento, Tanaya Safi, received the third prize with $750 for the documentary, 'Are EVs Truly Green?' Students, Kiah Safi, Mihir Ratilal and Mira Prasad, from Natomas Charter School in Sacramento, won the third-prize and will receive $750 for the documentary, 'Affordable Housing: The Key To Success.' Franklin High School students in Elk Grove, Athena Chen, Valeria Buendia and Pia Manez are honorable mention prize winners and will receive $250 for the documentary, 'A Better Healthcare Calls for A Better America.' Educators Neil Landers from Inderkum High School, Gabriel Lang from Natomas Charter School, and Brad Clark from Franklin High School were recognized and served as advisers in the StudentCam competition. 'Congratulations to all of the incredibly talented young students who won awards in this year's competition! Through in-depth research and interviews with an array of topical and technical experts, you have crafted impactful short stories that capture issues of wide public interest and importance,' said C-SPAN's Director of Education Relations Craig McAndrew. 'Your documentaries set a very high bar for future StudentCam filmmakers, and you should be proud knowing your work will inspire your peers and foster thoughtful consideration from all audiences. We can't wait to see what you do next!' The project-based learning experience is in its 21st year, and asked students to explore and analyze matters of personal, local or national importance, according to C-SPAN. C-SPAN said they received over 1,700 entries and nearly 3,500 students participated with the most popular topics as: Climate, Environment, and Land Use (11%) K–12 Education Policies and the Cost of College (10%) Health Care and Mental Health (10%) Gun Violence, School Safety, and Firearm Policies (9%) Inflation, Taxes, Government Spending, and the Economy (9%) C-SPAN said they also plan on awarding 16 second prizes, 32 third prizes and 97 honorable mention prizes. The cash awards for the winning videos are $1,500, $750 and $250. The winning videos can be seen on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Aurora student wins prize in national C-SPAN documentary contest
DENVER (KDVR) — A student from Aurora won a prize in a national C-SPAN documentary-making competition called StudentCam. Lilyan Mauro, a student from Vista Peak Prepatory in Aurora, was listed among the honorable mentions of the competition. Rockies to debut new City Connect jerseys this season at Coors Field C-SPAN delivered a prompt to center the documentary around. The prompt was 'Your Message to the President: What issue is most important to you or your community?' Mauro responded with her documentary, 'My Message to the President: A Story of Unity and Advocacy.' She produced the documentary with the help of a mentor and educator at her school, Jason Burchard, who was also recognized by C-SPAN for his advisory role in the documentary's creation. C-SPAN said it received 1,700 documentaries from 3,500 students across 42 states and Washington D.C. The most covered topics included: Climate, environment and land use — 11% K-12 education policies and the cost of college — 10% Health care and mental health — 10% Gun violence, school safety, and firearm policies — 9% Inflation, taxes, government spending and the economy — 9% 'Congratulations to all of the incredibly talented young students who won awards in this year's competition! Through in-depth research and interviews with an array of topical and technical experts, you have crafted short stories that capture issues of wide public interest and importance,' said C-SPAN's Director of Education Relations Craig McAndrew. 'Your documentaries set a very high bar for future StudentCam filmmakers, and you should be proud knowing your work will inspire your peers and foster thoughtful consideration from all audiences. We can't wait to see what you do next!' C-SPAN awarded grand-prize and first-prize winners, 16 second prize winners, 32 third prize winners and 97 honorable mentions. The prizes were distributed in amounts of $1,500, $750 and $250. C-SPAN said the StudentCam competition has awarded over $1.6 million in prizes since 2004. Mauro was awarded $250. Man who designed DIA's white tents selling $6M house During the competition, the United States was divided into three regions: the east, central and west regions where high schoolers would compete against each other at a regional level. Middle schoolers were judged on a national basis. The grand-prize winner was selected from any of the grades, 6th-12th, at a national level. The winning documentaries can be found on the StudentCam website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
