StudentCam is an annual

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indiv ...

selecting the best video documentaries created by middle and

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

students. Each year, StudentCam releases a different prompt about the United States for student filmmakers to respond to in a documentary. It is sponsored by the

Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

's (C-SPAN) Classroom project. All winning documentaries are available to watch on th
StudentCam website
The top 25 winners are interviewed for television broadcasts and have their documentaries aired on C-SPAN.

Overview

The aim of the competition, as stated by C-SPAN, is to provide an opportunity for young people to voice their opinions on current events. Middle and high school students can compete alone or in groups of up to three, entering a video documentary between 5 and 6 minutes in length, which presents more than one side to the selected topic and includes related C-SPAN programming. Each year a new theme related to current affairs is provided, and competitors must use this as the basis for their entry. Subjects have ranged from video game violence to illegal immigration. The deadline for entries is in January each year and the StudentCam winners are announced live on C-SPAN's '' Washington Journal'', usually in March each year. Following the announcement, the top 25 entries are shown on C-SPAN, one documentary each weekday morning, accompanied by a telephone interview with the student filmmakers. All of the winning documentaries are available on the StudentCam website. The winning filmmakers receive cash prizes typically totaling $150,000, with the grand prize-winner receiving $5,000, in addition to being featured on C-SPAN. , 150 entries each year are chosen as prize-winners, and 11 teacher awards are given to teachers who incorporate the competition into their classes. The sponsor of the StudentCam competition is C-SPAN Classroom, a free membership organization providing teachers with C-SPAN materials for classes and research. Promotion of the competition is often supplemented by local cable providers.

History

The StudentCam competition developed from a documentary competition called CampaignCam, run by C-SPAN during the 2004 presidential campaign as a way of including students' views about the election. The StudentCam forerunner won a Beacon Award in 2005, conferred by the cable industry for excellence in communications and public affairs. In 2006, StudentCam was launched by C-SPAN, adding a requirement that students include relevant C-SPAN programming. The 2018 competition received the most entries to date, when over 5,700 students from 46 states and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

submitted a total of 2,985 submissions. The grand prize winner of the 2009 competition, Sawyer Bowman, a 10th grade student from

Davidson, North Carolina Davidson is a suburban town located in northern Mecklenburg and Iredell counties, North Carolina, United States, on the banks of Lake Norman. It is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 10,944 at the 2010 census, and ...

was congratulated by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

via a specially-recorded video message. A first-prize winner in the 2010 competition, Matthew Shimura, met First Lady Michelle Obama at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

in April 2010 during a

town hall meeting Town hall meetings, also referred to as town halls or town hall forums, are a way for local and national politicians to meet with their constituents either to hear from them on topics of interest or to discuss specific upcoming legislation or ...

for her "Let's Move!" initiative, to talk about fighting childhood obesity, which was the subject of Matthew's video.

Grand prize winners

References

External links

StudentCam
official website {{C-SPAN navbox Film competitions C-SPAN Education competitions in the United States 2006 establishments in the United States