These Local Students Created Award-Winning Documentaries

PLYMOUTH/CANTON, MI — C-SPAN’s award-winning state-of-the-art, 45-foot customized Bus is coming to the Plymouth/Canton community to honor local students. In total the bus will visit six area schools from May 28-31 to honor sixteen students who won honors in the annual student video documentary competition, StudentCam.

Local winners

An assembly was held 10:30-11:30 a.m. Wednesday at East Middle school in Plymouth to honor two students: Sreejani Kanuri and Katherine Schornhorst are honorable mention winners and will receive $250 for their documentary, "Women in Government." In addition to the StudentCam ceremony, the C-SPAN Bus will stay after to visit with classes.

The bus then hit Canton High School to honor Claire Swadling, an honorable mention winner and who receives $250 for the documentary, "With Love, America," about U.S. foreign aid.

Thursday a student at Green Hills School in Ann Arbor will be honored: Aarushi Ganguly, a student at Greenhills School in Ann Arbor, is a third prize winner and will receive $750 for the documentary, "Democracy: What It Means to Be American."

Nearby Milan students Sophia Morelock and Lia Iverson will also receive $250 for their documentary, "Mind, Body & Heart;" Maxine Tewsley, Travis York and Kendall Martinez will receive $250 for their documentary, "Did You Hate Today?" about hate groups; and Emily Monroe, Abigail Penhallegon and Naomi Rossow, will receive $250 for their documentary, "Freedom of Speech: Not Just Your Right."

About the C-SPAN bus

In partnership with Comcast, C-SPAN will present a StudentCam certificate of merit to the students during a ceremony of classmates, teachers, family members and elected officials. The winning videos will also be viewed during the congratulatory events.

Each year, since 2006, C-SPAN partners with its local cable television providers in communities nationwide to invite middle school students (grades 6-8) and high school students (grades 9-12) to produce short documentaries about a subject of national importance. This year, students addressed the theme, "What does it mean to be American? Choose a constitutional right, national characteristic, or historic event and explain how it defines the American experience."

In response, a record 6,318 students from 48 states and Washington, D.C., participated. The most popular topics among the 2,923 submissions included First Amendment rights (17 percent), equality/discrimination (13 percent) and immigration (9 percent).

"As a strong supporter of civic education, Comcast proudly partners with C-SPAN for its annual documentary competition, StudentCam. Each year, we are impressed and inspired by Southeastern Michigan area students' insight and creativity tackling national issues through their short videos. This year's winners creatively portrayed what it means to be American," said Maria W. Holmes, Director of Community Impact for Comcast Heartland Region. "We at Comcast are proud to join C-SPAN in congratulating the winning students in these cities."

Since 1993, a C-SPAN Bus has traveled across the nation in partnership with C-SPAN's cable and satellite providers for local interactions through visits to schools and community events. Visitors to the Bus will engage with the C-SPAN Bus crew and the onboard interactive tools to learn about the unique public service television network, C-SPAN's online presence and C-SPAN Classroom's comprehensive educational resources. Bus visitors will learn about C-SPAN's unique non-commercial, editorially balanced, non-biased coverage of public affairs and political events and the cable industry's commitment to funding its operations.

In Southeastern Michigan, C-SPAN programming is provided by Comcast as a commercial-free public service and can be seen on channel 96 and HD 1125; C-SPAN2 on channel 104 and C-SPAN3 on channel 105 and on the web at C-SPAN.org. Funding for C-SPAN operations, including Bus visits, is provided by Comcast and other cable and satellite TV providers.

Fans can follow the adventures of the C-SPAN Bus on Twitter and Instagram @cspanbus and online at C-SPAN.org/community.