Deltona High students claim Riverkeeper PSA victories

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Proud of students — Jimmy Orth, executive director of the St. Johns Riverkeeper, said he is proud of the work Deltona High School students did in creating public-service announcements for the Riverkeeper organization.

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Jul 8, 2009 - 5:25:12pm

The St. Johns Riverkeeper recently completed the organization's second public-service announcement (PSA) contest. For the second year, videography students at Deltona High School took home recognition.

Last year, two Deltona High videos took honorable mentions.

This year, four Deltona High videos took honors, winning all but first place.

That went to “Returning the Favor” by Matt David, a student at Episcopal High School in Jacksonville, who collected the $500 prize.

The rest of the awards went to Deltona High students.

Riverkeeper Executive Director Jimmy Orth said, "I think the Deltona kids did a great job."

The following Deltona High students are the winners:

• Arika Richardson won the most memorable or creative category with "Antoine the Alligator."

• Robert Langdon won the category of most informative, with his entry, simply called "St. Johns Water PSA."

• David Edwards won best editing award with "Water Makes Noise."

• Jimmy Burlison, Kristin Potter and Joelle Poindexter won the category of most persuasive message with "Conserve Water."

Burlison explained, "The whole class did it." That was his TV productions class, last year, as a sophomore.

"It's based off the fact we live around the St. Johns River, and it's an important thing for us," Burlinson said. "It's important to save the wildlife.

He said he's excited about the recognition his PSA earned. "We plan to do another one next year!"

Orth at the Riverkeeper organization explained, "The video contest is held each year to raise awareness about the St. Johns River through the eyes and lens of local high school students who live in the river’s watershed."

Students tell the importance of protecting the river in a more direct and compelling way than perhaps a professional marketing group could.

"They offer a fresh perspective to the way we think about the river and the issues that are impacting its health. Unfortunately, our youth don’t have a seat at the table when decisions are made about the future of their river, yet they have as much and probably more at stake regarding the outcome of those decisions," Orth said.

The videos also can be viewed at The St. Johns Riverkeeper site at www.stjohnsriverkeeper.org.

The St. Johns Riverkeeper is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the river and its ecology through advocacy and education.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

Comment on this article

Commenting is closed for this article.

If you would like to contribute a letter to the editor, please click here.

Did you find this story interesting or informative? Subscribe to The DeLand-Deltona Beacon to read more stories by Pat Hatfield, along with others from our award-winning writers. Subscribe now!