Student documentarians take home honors in C-SPAN competition
Several students from California have received honors and scholarship money for their entries in this year’s StudentCam, C-SPAN’s annual video documentary competition that encourages students to think critically about issues that affect their communities and the nation.
This year, students nationwide from grades 6-12 submitted 2,300 entries under the theme, “Explore the issue you most want the president and new Congress to address in 2021.”
Two students at the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School, an Armenian-English dual language private school in Canoga Park in the San Fernando Valley, won second prize for the West region and will receive $3,000 in prize money. Sofia Gevorgian and Anahit Malumyan submitted “Dear Congress and Mr. President, Recognize Artsakh.” Artsakh is a predominately Armenian-populated breakaway enclave within the region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus that has been under siege. C-SPAN will air the documentary throughout the day on April 18. You can watch it here.
Agamroop Kaur, a student at Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, will receive $1,500 as a second-prize winner in the West for the documentary, “BIG Tobacco BIGGER Epidemic,” about loopholes in federal regulations intended to restrict youth vaping. The documentary will air on C-SPAN throughout the day on Tuesday, April 6. You can watch it here.
Philip Avdey, a student at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, will receive $750 as a third-prize winner for the documentary, “Frontier,” about space exploration. Watch it here.