Impressive Video by Sandy Springs 7th-Grader Wins C-SPAN Prize

Information provided by Laura Finch

Two students from Sandy Springs and Lithonia are winners in C-SPAN’s national 2013 StudentCam competition.

Zachary Cohen, a seventh grade student at The Alfred and Adele Davis Academy, in Sandy Springs, will receive $1,500 for his Second Prize documentary, “Education: Take A Spin,” about education in the U.S. 

The basis of the video for each participant was a question: “What’s the most important issue facing the President in 2013?”

Zachary’s answer is education. “If we can well educate our current generation from toddlers to young adults, then they will have the full set of tools they need to tackle on some major problems,” he said in the video. 

The short video starts out with a spinning dreidel and includes appearances by a range of people, from Georgia Congressman Henry “Hank” Johnson to teachers and students who speak on public education, funding, how teachers teach and more.

Click here to see the video

Another metro area student, Samuel Gladden, a sophomore at Miller Grove High School in Lithonia, will receive $250 for his Honorable Mention documentary, “Education: The Greatest Common Factor,” about how education is related to the economy.

Zachary and Samuel are among 146 students in the annual competition from across the country, winning a total of $50,000, including one Grand Prize winner, two First Prize winners, eight Second Prize winners, 16 Third Prize winners and 48 Honorable Mentions. The 75 winning videos can be viewed at www.c-span.org/studentcam.