Coginchaug Teacher Wins Award

The competition is getting tougher as schools compete to promote safe driving among teens.

After finishing in the top three the previous two years, Coginchaug High School did not earn a top spot in this year's DMV/Travelers teen driving video contest.

East Lyme High School captured first and second place at Monday night's "Make The Right Choice" awards ceremony in Windsor, hosted by Travelers and the Department of Motor Vehicles (Watch first place video here.). Howell Cheney Technical High School earned third place.

Coginchaug, however, did not walk away empty handed.

Television production teacher Robin Fox received the St. Francis Care Award, earning $500 for the school, as Coginchaug was recognized as one of only two schools to finish in the top 10 in all three years of the contest.

Coginchaug took home third place ($1,000) in 2009 and second place ($3,000) in 2010.

This year's video was produced by Coginchaug students Kevin Onofreo (student director), Jake Abbott, Jocelyn Brown, Conor Grady and Kyle Onofreo. You can watch it here. 

More than 160 teams submitted videos for this year's contest, twice as many as a year ago. Each of the top 10 teams received certificates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the University of Hartford School of Communication.

“We saw a record increase in videos submitted for this year’s contest and that speaks to the growing interest in community, teen and school involvement in promoting safe driving,” said DMV Commissioner Melody Currey who helped judge the finalist videos. “Promoting safe driving is so important and these videos show that students across the state understand the responsibility that comes with driving and are willing to help spread the message of teens talking to teens.”

Videos of the three winning teams, runners-up and finalists can be viewed on DMV’s YouTube site at: http://www.youtube.com/teensafedriving12