Winners of SRL/STN Documentary Competition Announced

In conjunction with the Student Television Network, the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs program launched a national competition to identify collaborators to produce a documentary project. One school from each of the seven STN regions in the United States will work on a joint 30-minute documentary project during the school year. The topic of this year’s collaborative documentary is: school safety. Stories will show safety concerns are being addressed in different communities.

With this project, STN expands its services to affiliates by encouraging students to tackle issues that can in some way effect change. By working collaboratively, students will learn how to share responsibility for workflow and how to produce a piece that is required to fit in a larger project. These are important skills for real-world employment in this business. Each of the seven schools will be responsible for creating five minutes of content for the film. Content will be in feature story format.

Here is a list of the winning schools:

Midwest: Park Hill and Park Hill South High Schools in Riverside, Missouri
Northwest: Black River Falls High School in Black River Falls, Wisconsin
Northeast: Cedar Crest High School in Lebanon, Pennsylvania
South: Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High in Miami, Florida
South Pacific: Maui High School in Kahului, Hawaii
Southwest: Jersey Village High School in Houston, Texas
West: West Ranch High School in Stevenson Ranch, California

Carlsbad High School in Carlsbad, California, with accolades for the production of many student documentaries, has agreed to contribute to the film and edit the final piece to provide any necessary links or segues.

The documentary will be produced by long-time STN member and board member, Jacki Romey. Romey will work with Carlsbad High’s Doug Green, who will be the executive producer. The PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs team will also be lending their expertise by viewing the progress of each piece and providing feedback.