A Schenectady High School media class made it to the top 6 in the nation in a digital storytelling competition by NBC and Adobe.
The PM Mediaworks class, part of the SHS Musical Theater Program at Proctor’s, won 6th place overall among 600 entries in The Edit contest. The class produced a 90-second news feature on the positive effect of the arts on mental health
The winning entry featured student correspondents Marvin Chapman and Karissa Beehm, with interviewees Ashur Leavitt, Devyn Flaherty and Tristan Weiss. Joly Verdejo was the student videographer for the entry.
“Our judges assessed the creativity, originality and professionalism of each submission and were especially impressed with your students’ work,” the contest organizers said in an email announcing the achievement. “The journalistic and technical skills displayed by your students, along with their insightful coverage on the topic of wellbeing, made their video news report a top 6 national finalist in the high school category.”
“We’re very proud of our students and their work,” said Mediaworks teacher Roger Gaboury.
Jermaine Wells, the media teacher/visiting artist from Proctors who led the video effort, said he felt confident about the entries of both Mediaworks classes. “I like how motivated the students were in creating this piece,” he said.
The contest included entries from over 23,000 students from across the country. The groups named the PM Mediaworks entry among its finalists last month.
The three top high school winners were an Advanced Broadcast Class from Mesquite, Texas, a Broadcasting class from Bellmore, NY, and a class from High Tech High School in Secaucus, NJ.
Mediaworks is a media-based English class in the SHS Musical Theater Program at Proctors. It is based within the downtown theater as part of the district’s City as our Campus initiative. Students from the high school main campus spend half of their school day at Proctors taking dance, music and theater classes in addition to Mediaworks.
The Edit is an initiative from NBCU Academy and Adobe to develop creativity and inspire the next generation of talent in film and TV. Middle and high school students were challenged to create a 90-second video news report about physical, mental or financial well being using Adobe Express.