9th grade student Meital Zayats from Mountain View High School in California won 2nd Prize in the High School West division for her documentary, “Voices in Conflict: The Debate Over Free Speech in the Digital Age.” As a 2nd Prize winner, Meital will receive $1,500 in prize money.
StudentCam is C-SPAN’s annual national video documentary competition that encourages students to think critically about issues that affect our communities and our nation. 2025 marked the 21st year of the competition and in this presidential inaugural year, we asked students to explore and analyze matters of personal, local or national importance by addressing the theme — “Your Message to the President: What issue is most important to you or your community?”
C-SPAN is funded by America’s cable and satellite television companies, who also support StudentCam. In Mountain View, C-SPAN is available locally through Comcast.
Press:
- Press Release: San Francisco Bay Area Students Win Prizes in C-SPAN’s National Video Documentary Competition (Google Doc)
- Article: Local students win national documentary competition (Los Altos Town Crier)
StudentCam 2025 2nd Prize: "Voices in Conflict: The Debate Over Free Speech in the Digital Age"
Congratulatory Messages and Recognition

Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA)
Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Marc Levine


Mountain View, CA Mayor Ellen Kamei
Written by studentcam
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