Bellevue Student Wins C-SPAN Video Documentary Competition

Today C-SPAN announced that students in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington are winners in C-SPAN’s national 2022 StudentCam competition.

Lukas Snevoll, J.C. Shiff and Nate Sousley, students at Whitman Middle School in Seattle, will receive $750 as third prize winners for the documentary, "The United States a Monitored Nation," about NSA Surveillance in the United States.

Ian Clark, a student at Bellevue High School in Bellevue, will receive $250 as an honorable mention prize winner for the documentary, "NASA's Impact on the World."

The competition, now in its 18th year, invited all middle and high school students to enter by producing a short documentary. C-SPAN, in cooperation with its cable television partners, asked students to explore a federal policy or program and address the theme: "How does the federal government impact your life?"

In response, more than 3,000 students across the country participated in the contest. C-SPAN received over 1,400 entries from 41 states, Washington, D.C., Morocco and South Korea. The most popular topics addressed were:

• Environment & Pollution (10%)
• Health Care & Mental Health (9%)
• COVID-19 & Recovery (7%)
• Immigration (5%)
• 2nd Amendment & Firearm Legislation (4%)

"This year we asked students to reflect on how a federal program or policy is relevant to their lives and communities," said Craig McAndrew, director of C-SPAN Education Relations. "The winners showcased exceptional research and production values as they wove personal stories with historical or contemporary issues. These middle and high school students far exceeded our expectations, and we are elated to share their hard work with the country."

C-SPAN is funded by America’s cable television companies, who also support StudentCam. In Seattle and Bellevue, C-SPAN is available locally through Comcast.

"Comcast is pleased to honor our local winners on this outstanding achievement in the 2022 StudentCam competition," said Rodrigo Lopez, Region Senior Vice President, Comcast Washington. "We applaud these talented students for the creative and thoughtful analysis of the government programs and policies that affect our communities."

More than 300 students from across the country are 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.

About C-SPAN Classroom:

C-SPAN Classroom is the network’s FREE membership service that works with C-SPAN's programs on public affairs, coverage of Congress, nonfiction books and American history to create free resources for teachers, students and the public to use in classrooms, projects or for research. C-SPAN Classroom’s website provides social studies teachers with access to thousands of free resources, including short current events videos, Lesson Plans and Bell Ringers, plus Constitution Clips and On This Day in History events. The education team also hosts the biweekly C-SPAN in the Classroom Podcast, available on the C-SPAN Now app or wherever you listen to podcasts. Engage with C-SPAN Classroom on Twitter and Facebook.

About C-SPAN:

C-SPAN, the public affairs network providing Americans with unfiltered access to congressional proceedings, was created in 1979 as a public service by the cable television industry and is now funded through fees paid by cable and satellite companies that provide C-SPAN programming. C-SPAN connects with millions of Americans through its three commercial-free TV networks, C-SPAN Radio, C-SPAN Podcasts, the C-SPAN Now app, C-SPAN.org and various social media platforms. C-SPAN's robust public affairs programming includes national and international public policy conversations; its popular morning show Washington Journal; book and author discussions on Book TV; a chronicle of America's past on American History TV; and more. The network's video-rich website contains over 270,000 hours of searchable and shareable content, archived since 1987 for educational and reporting purposes. Learn more about C-SPAN at www.c-span.org/about/faq/. Engage with C-SPAN on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and stay connected through weekly and daily newsletters.