3 Shorewood Students Win National Video Contest

SHOREWOOD, WI — Three students from Shorewood's Intermediate School were among those who were honored in the eighth-annual“World of 7 Billion” video contest sponsored by Population Connection.

More than 5,500 students in grades 6 through 12 from 43 countries and 47 U.S. states and territories participated in the competition. The videos explored population growth as it relates to one of three challenges: Preserving Biodiversity, Sustainable Resource Use, and Protecting Human Rights.

The three high-school first-place winners each received a $1,000 cash prize, while the three second-place winners each received $500 and six honorable mentions each received $250. Middle-school students who claimed first and second place received $500 and $250, respectively. Winning students hail from the U.S., Singapore, Thailand, India and South Korea.

Eleanor Bennett, Lucy Benavides, and Noa Biener, seventh graders at Shorewood Intermediate school produced a video about the mineral coltan - how industrial nations use it, and how dangerous labor practices lead to its production in the Congo.

Organizers say they found out about the contest in their World Geography class. Their teacher, Kristina Stridde, assigned the contest and Lucy shares that she was excited because, “we don’t do many group projects this is one of the first big ones I’ve been a part of and I think it’s good for us to build team work skills.”

The girls originally had their hearts set on tackling the issue of fossil fuels under the Sustainable Resource Use topic, that is until Eleanor stumbled on an article about coltan, how its mined, and the impacts it has on miners.

To view the winning videos and student bios, visit https://www.worldof7billion.or...

Full list of winners:

1st Place in Preserving Biodiversity (Middle School): Ruby Ha of Teaneck, NJ for “In Your Backyard”

2nd Place in Preserving Biodiversity (Middle School): Sydney Hopkin of Virginia Beach, VA for “The Ugly Truth About Receipts”

1st Place in Sustainable Resource Use (Middle School): Honor Dodd of Los Angeles, CA for “Switch to Rechargeable”

2nd Place in Sustainable Resource Use (Middle School): Winne Ye of Whitestone, NY for “ Abuse to Re-use”

1st Place in Protecting Human Rights (Middle School): Eleanor Bennett, Lucy Benavides and Noa Biener of Shorewood, WI for “Coltan: A Conflict Mineral”

2nd Place in Protecting Human Rights (Middle School): Vedika Amin of Mumbai, India for “Compassion and Integration Can Solve the Refugee Crisis”

1st Place in Preserving Biodiversity (High School): Ethan Xiong of Singapore for “Preserve Our Priceless Pollinators”

2nd Place in Preserving Biodiversity (High School): Ali Ransom of Poolesville, MD for “Pollinators and the Human Population”

1st Place in Sustainable Resource Use (High School): Pitt Pongpittayapa (Lead Producer) and Kritin Vongthongsri of Thailand for “A Nanofuture”

2nd Place in Sustainable Resource Use (High School): Ethan Xiong of Singapore, for “Smart and Sustainable Fishing”

1st Place in Protecting Human Rights (High School): Jade Christman of Cumming, GA for “Women of Action”

2nd Place in Protecting Human Rights (High School): Lucy Baretto of Oakland, CA for “Barriers to Education: Menstrual Health”