2023 Second Prize High School Central – “Loved to Death” by Brianna Johnson & Katie Schmidt

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. 2023 marked the 19th year of the competition and we invited middle and high school students to create a short documentary addressing the theme: “If you were a newly elected member of Congress, which issue would be your first priority and why?”

11th grade students Brianna Johnson & Katie Schmidt from Troy Athens High School in Michigan won 2nd Prize for their documentary on the impacts of overcrowding in our national parks and park resources, “Loved to Death.” As a 2nd Prize winners, the duo will share $1,500 in prize money.

C-SPAN is funded by America’s cable and satellite television companies, who also support StudentCam. In Troy, C-SPAN is available locally through Comcast.

“Comcast is proud to continue the long tradition of partnering with C-SPAN to get middle and high school students interested and engaged in the political process through StudentCam,” said Michelle Gilbert, Vice President of Public Relations for Comcast in Michigan. “A huge congratulations to Katie and Brianna on the hard work and creativity it took to produce their award-winning documentary.”

PRESS:

• Press Release: Michigan Students Win Top Prizes in C-SPAN Video Documentary Competition (Google Doc)
• Article: Students from Troy and Royal Oak earn C-SPAN awards (The Oakland Press)
• Article: Estudiantes de Troy y Royal Oak ganan premios en concurso de documentales en vídeo de C-SPAN (Latinos en Michigan)
• Article: Michigan High School Students Win Prizes in C-SPAN Documentary Competition (Hour Detroit)