StudentCam
Encyclopedia
StudentCam is an annual competition
selecting the best video documentaries
on current-affairs topics created by middle
and high school
students. It is sponsored by the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network's (C-SPAN) Classroom project. All winning documentaries are available to watch on the StudentCam website. The top 25 winners are interviewed for television broadcast and have their documentaries aired on C-SPAN.
.
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 StudentCam entries are shown on C-SPAN, with one documentary shown each weekday morning, accompanied by a telephone interview with the student filmmakers. All of the winning documentaries are available to view on the StudentCam website. The winning filmmakers receive cash prizes typically totaling $50,000, with the grand prize-winner receiving $5,000, in addition to being featured on C-SPAN. , 75 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.
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 in their documentary. The 2009 competition received the most entries to date, when nearly 2,000 students from 41 states, the District of Columbia and Guam
submitted a total of 921 submissions. The grand prize winner of the competition, Sawyer Bowman, a 10th grade student from Davidson, NC was congratulated by President Barack Obama
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
in April 2010 during a town hall meeting
for her "Let's Move!" initiative, to talk about fighting childhood obesity, which was the subject of Matthew's video.
Contest
A contest is an event in which at least two teams or individuals compete. There may be an award to a winner or awards for multiple top performers, but a contest may be imposed for training...
selecting the best video documentaries
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
on current-affairs topics created by middle
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
and high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
students. It is sponsored by the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network's (C-SPAN) Classroom project. All winning documentaries are available to watch on the StudentCam website. The top 25 winners are interviewed for television broadcast and have their documentaries aired on C-SPAN.
Overview
The aim of the StudentCam competition, as stated by C-SPAN, is to provide an opportunity for young people to voice their opinions on current events. For the competition, middle and high school students can enter alone or in groups of up to three and must create a video documentary between 5 and 8 minutes in length, which presents more than one side to the selected topic and includes related C-SPAN programming. Each year a new theme for the documentaries is provided, related to current affairs, and entrants in the competition must use this as the basis for their entry. Subjects of the winning documentaries have ranged from video game violence to illegal immigrationIllegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
.
The deadline for entries is in January each year and the StudentCam winners are announced live on C-SPAN's Washington Journal
Washington Journal
Washington Journal is an American television series on the C-SPAN network in the format of a political call-in and interview program. The program features elected officials, government administrators and journalists as guests, answering questions from the hosts and from members of the general...
, usually in March each year. Following the announcement, the top 25 StudentCam entries are shown on C-SPAN, with one documentary shown each weekday morning, accompanied by a telephone interview with the student filmmakers. All of the winning documentaries are available to view on the StudentCam website. The winning filmmakers receive cash prizes typically totaling $50,000, with the grand prize-winner receiving $5,000, in addition to being featured on C-SPAN. , 75 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 campaignUnited States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
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 in their documentary. The 2009 competition received the most entries to date, when nearly 2,000 students from 41 states, the District of Columbia and Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
submitted a total of 921 submissions. The grand prize winner of the competition, Sawyer Bowman, a 10th grade student from Davidson, NC was congratulated by President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
via a specially-recorded video message. A first-prize winner in the 2010 competition, Matthew Shimura, met First Lady
First Lady
First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...
Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
in April 2010 during a town hall meeting
Town hall meeting
A town hall meeting is an American English term given to an informal public meeting. Everybody in a town community is invited to attend, not always to voice their opinions, but to hear the responses from public figures and elected officials about shared subjects of interest. Attendees rarely voted...
for her "Let's Move!" initiative, to talk about fighting childhood obesity, which was the subject of Matthew's video.