Local students recognized in C-SPAN StudentCam competition

WEST WARWICK – Nine Rhode Island high school students are winners in C-SPAN’s national 2015 StudentCam competition.

Three sophomores at Narragansett High School – Christine Goglia, Katelyn Goglia and Jessica McLeod – will receive $750 for their third prize documentary, “To Kill a Waterway,” about the Clean Water Act and Narragansett Bay. They asked seven people about their favorite aspects of living in Narragansett and all related to water.

Fellow Narragansett sophomores Andrew Kitson, Joey Levesque and Sam Reddington will receive $250 for their honorable mention documentary, “The Effects the Magnuson-Stevens Act has on New England Fishermen.”

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Lauren Javelle, Abby Reidreck and Sarah Thieme, juniors at Portsmouth High School, will receive $250 for their honorable mention documentary, “Bolt Closed, Open Sights: The Complex Debate Over Gun Laws in Rhode Island.”

In its 11th year, the national competition invites middle school (grades 6-8) and high school students (grades 9-12) to produce a five- to- seven minute documentary on a national policy issue.

Students were asked to “tell a story that demonstrates how a policy, law or action by either the executive, legislative or judicial branch has affected you or your community.”

In response, C-SPAN received 2,280 video submissions from nearly 5,000 students across the country.

“This year, the competition saw its greatest number of participants ever,” Craig McAndrew, manager of education relations, C-SPAN, said in a statement.

“All aspects of these student video productions, including the research, planning and diverse range of expert interviews, demonstrate the highest levels of critical thought and initiative. StudentCam affords our nation’s youth a platform to express their opinions on national issues, and we’re confident these documentaries will prove eye-opening and inspire viewers across the country,” he said.

Documentaries were judged by C-SPAN education representatives and evaluated based on the 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.

“Cox [Communications] is proud to partner with C-SPAN on their annual StudentCam documentary competition and is excited to congratulate all our Rhode Island winners,” Jennifer Bramley, vice president of government and public affairs, Cox Northeast, said. “It’s a rare opportunity to honor students for thinking critically about issues important in our community and across the nation. We are pleased to recognize them locally and nationally for their creative academic achievement.”

The local winners are among 347 students from across the country winning a total of $100,000, including one grand prize winner.
The 150 winning videos may be viewed at http://www.studentcam.org/winners15.htm.

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