C-SPAN StudentCam Contest Winners Include Four From Royal Oak High School

ROYAL OAK, MI — Ken Burns is one of the most celebrated documentary filmmakers for his works on the Civil War, baseball and jazz music. One day, Royal Oak’s Jarod Clark may earn similar accolades. He’s already garnered one as a first prize winner of C-SPAN’s 2017 StudentCam competition.

Clark will receive $3,000 for his video entitled, "Enough is Enough," about pharmaceutical costs. The documentary will air on C-SPAN at 6:50 a.m. ET and throughout the day on April 19. Clark was one of four Royal Oak High School students to earn awards in the competition. Others include:

• Mary Sier will receive $1,500 as second prize winner for her video entitled, "Incarceration Nation," about problems in our criminal justice system. This documentary will air on C-SPAN at 6:50 a.m. ET and throughout the day on April 3.

• Rebecca Messner will receive $750 as third prize winner for her documentary, "Gender Inequality."

• Grace Novak will receive $250 as an honorable mention winner for her documentary, "Policing the Media," about police relations in the media.

Each year, C-SPAN partners with local cable affiliates in communities nationwide to invite middle school high school students, grades 6-12, to produce short documentaries on an issue of national importance. This year, students answered the question, “Your message to Washington: What is the most urgent issue for the new president and Congress to address in 2017?”

In response, C-SPAN received a record 2,903 video submissions from over 5,600 students in 46 states and Washington, D.C. Students worked in teams or as individuals to address a wide range of public policy issues from equality and the economy, to the environment and education.

"With the new president and Congress in office, we wanted to hear from students about public policy issues they would like addressed in 2017," said Craig McAndrew, C-SPAN's Manager of Education Relations. "StudentCam offers young people the opportunity to connect with lawmakers and experts and provides them with a platform to voice their opinions creatively."

The most popular topics chosen by students were equality, which included police brutality, racial and gender discrimination, and women's rights, followed by the economy (13 percent) and the environment (11 percent). C-SPAN is funded by America’s cable television companies, which support StudentCam. In Royal Oak, C-SPAN is available through Comcast.

“Comcast is honored to partner with C-SPAN on their annual documentary contest, StudentCam, and are thrilled to congratulate our local winners,” said Maria Holmes, Comcast Director of Community Investment in Michigan. “These students tackled issues that were important to them, their community and our nation after a historic election year. Comcast is preparing today’s youth to become tomorrow’s leaders by investing in mentoring, service and scholarship programs that inspire young people to achieve their goals."

These winners are among 321 students from across the country winning a total of $100,000, including one grand prize winner, four first prize winners, 16 second prize winners, 32 third prize winners and 97 honorable mentions.

The annual 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.

As for Clark, he plans on continuing his filmmaking career, according to a recent Facebook post:

Royal Oak High was not the lone winning school in Michigan. The following students at Milan High School will receive prizes for their winning documentaries:

• Isaac Miller, Paden Neely and Stephen Satarino will receive $1,500 as second prize winners for their video entitled, "Live and Let Drive," about autonomous vehicles. This documentary will air on C-SPAN at 6:50 a.m. ET and throughout the day on April 11.
• Lauren Smith, Emily Ludwig and Henry Thiry will receive $750 as third prize winners for their documentary, "The Mommy Penalty," about the gender wage gap.

• Trevor Brant, Hannah Iverson and Jonah Priest will receive $750 as third prize winners for their documentary, "The Unseen Battle: Improving Care for Our Veterans."

• Chase Riling, Brady Keene and David Morris will receive $250 as honorable mention winners for their documentary, "It Starts with the Middle," about the shrinking of the middle class.

• Braiden Reyes II, Kailey Swiss and Phoebe Fink will receive $250 as honorable mention winners for their documentary, "The American Dream," about immigration.

• Muhammad Jalal, Justin Carter and Collin Bogoski will receive $250 as honorable mention winners for their documentary, "Nuclear Energy a Piece of the Puzzle."

• Mindy Olinger, Tiffany Bargo and Kenari Moore will receive $250 as honorable mention winners for their documentary, "Trans - Pacific Partnership."