Student Video Competition to Award $100K in Prizes

C-SPAN is calling for entries in its 2015 StudentCam competition. Now in its eleventh year, C-SPAN’s national contest invites all middle school students (grades 6-8) and high school students (grades 9-12) to produce a five- to seven-minute video documentary using C-SPAN programming.

This year, students will have the opportunity to produce a documentary that focuses on “The Three Branches & You: Tell a story that demonstrates how a policy, law, or action by either the executive, legislative, or judicial branch has affected you or your community.”

The C-SPAN Education Foundation supports the contest by awarding 150 student and 53 teacher awards, totaling $100,000 in cash prizes. The grand prize winner with the best overall entry will be awarded $5,000, with multiple cash prize awards of $3,000, $1,500, $750, $500, and $250 to students in both middle and high school categories.

High school students will be competing on a regional level with the U.S. divided into three regions. Middle school students will continue to be judged on a national basis. The grand prize winner will be chosen nationally between all middle and high school entries. The specific breakdown of regions and rules can be found at www.studentcam.org.

“Teachers often share how StudentCam participation increases their students’ critical thinking, storytelling skills, and public presentation abilities. We’re optimistic that this year’s theme continues the tradition, offering students an opportunity to explore the role of the Federal government, through this project-based learning experience,” says C-SPAN Manager of Education Relations, Craig McAndrew.

Competition Guidelines

Entries must represent varying points of view and include C-SPAN video that supports the documentary’s topic. Students, working alone or in groups up to three, can upload their entry form and video directly online at www.studentcam.org. Documentaries must be the original work of students; however, teachers may provide guidance and critiques.

The documentaries will be judged by a panel of C-SPAN representatives and educators and evaluated on a number of criteria, including the thoughtful examination of the competition’s theme, quality of expression, adherence to the time limit, inclusion of varying points of view, and use of C-SPAN programming.

The deadline for entries is Tuesday, January 20, 2015. Winners will be announced in March 2015, with the top winning videos to air on C-SPAN in April 2015. Complete competition details and the entry form are available at the competition’s website, www.studentcam.org.

About C-SPAN Classroom

StudentCam (twitter.com/@StudentCam) is sponsored by C-SPAN Classroom, www.c-spanclassroom.org (www.twitter.com/cspan_classroom), a free membership service dedicated to support educators’ use of C-SPAN programming in their classes or for research. Members of C-SPAN Classroom may access free Timely Teachable Videos and video clips for use in the classroom, as well as lesson plans, handouts, and ways to connect with other C-SPAN Classroom members. C-SPAN Classroom has reached more than one million students since its inception in 1987.

About C-SPAN

Created by the cable TV industry and now in 100 million TV households, C-SPAN programs three public affairs television networks in both SD and HD; C-SPAN Radio, heard in Washington, DC, at 90.1 FM, nationwide via XM Satellite Radio Channel 119, and via the C-SPAN Radio app for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry users; and a video-rich website which hosts the C-SPAN Video Library. Visit http://www.c-span.org or follow us on Facebook and on Twitter @cspan.

--Information provided by C-SPAN