C-SPAN honors Stevenson High School student filmmakers

Stevenson High School seniors Saloni Nahar and Linsey Nowack were honored Wednesday for their winning entry in C-SPAN's annual student video documentary competition, StudentCam.

Nahar and Nowack earned an honorable mention in the national contest for their video "Small Beetle, Big Problem," about the emerald ash borer.

C-SPAN's 45-foot customized bus stopped at the Lincolnshire school Wednesday morning for a short ceremony recognizing the students. Each received a certificate of merit and a $250 prize.

Tours of the interactive bus were given, including demonstrations on touch-screen information stations, mobile devices, HD cameras and production equipment used for onboard public affairs programming.

Jim Conrey, the high school's public information coordinator, said it is the second straight year Stevenson students have earned honors in the C-SPAN StudentCam contest.

"This year, only 150 videos were chosen from the 2,280 that were submitted from around the country, so this is quite an honor," he said. "We're very proud of Saloni and Linsey."

The StudentCam contest is for middle and high school students who submitted entries about issues that affect their communities and nation. Students were asked to produce a five- to seven-minute documentary about the topic "The Three Branches and You: Tell a story that demonstrates how a policy, law, or action, by either the executive, legislative, or judicial branch has affected you or your community."

Network marketing representative Vanessa Torres said the Stevenson students' video really hit close to home.

"This is a great honor for these two students as they were recognized nationally for their video," she said. "We definitely wanted to highlight their accomplishments by bringing the C-SPAN bus to their school and holding a ceremony."

For more information on the StudentCam project, visit www.studentcam.org. Winning videos, including "Small Beetle, Big Problem," can be viewed at www.studentcam.org/winners15.