Yesterday, C-SPAN announced that Deanna Wilbourn, Annalise Ferrell and Savanna Phung, students at Madison Central High School in Madison, Mississippi, are third-prize winners in C-SPAN’s national 2021 StudentCam competition. They will receive $750 for the documentary, “The Rise of Homelessness in Our Nation.”
The competition, now in its 17th year, invited all middle and high school students to enter by producing a short documentary. C-SPAN, in cooperation with cable television partners, asked students to join the national conversation on the challenges our country is facing with the theme: “Explore the issue you most want the president and new Congress to address in 2021.”
Despite the unique challenges brought about by COVID-19 this year, more than 2,300 students across the country participated in the contest. C-SPAN received over 1,200 entries from 43 states and Washington, D.C. The most popular topics addressed were:
- Health Care (14.9%)
- Environmental and Energy Policy (14.6%)
- Equal Rights and Equity (13.5%)
- Criminal Justice/Policing (7.6%)
- Education (7.5%)
“With the continual shift in the educational landscape, it is difficult to overstate just how challenging the pandemic has proven for schools across our nation,” said Craig McAndrew, Director, C-SPAN Education Relations. “We are so impressed by the resilience and ingenuity of this year’s prize-winning students who have delivered among the finest short films in the history of the StudentCam competition.”
“Comcast is proud to continue our partnership with C-SPAN on their annual StudentCam competition,” said Jason Gumbs, Comcast Regional SVP. “The caliber of work that these students produced is commendable and we offer our heartfelt congratulations.”
These winners are among 299 students from across the country winning a total of $100,000. C-SPAN is awarding one grand prize, 4 first prizes, 16 second prizes, 32 third prizes and 97 honorable mention prizes. These winning videos will receive cash awards of $5,000, $3,000, $1,500, $750 and $250, respectively.
High school students competed on a regional level, with the United States divided into three regions: West, Central and East. Middle school students were judged on a national basis. The grand-prize winner was selected nationally among all regions and grade levels.
The 150 winning videos can be viewed at www.studentcam.org and may be used in a broadcast with attribution to C-SPAN. To schedule an interview with one or more of the winning students, please contact Pam McGorry at pmcgorry@c-span.org.
The annual StudentCam competition is sponsored by the C-SPAN Education Foundation. Videos were evaluated by a panel of educators and C-SPAN representatives based on the thoughtful examination of the competition’s theme, quality of expression, inclusion of varying sides of the documentary’s topic, and effective incorporation of C-SPAN programming.
