Eastern Middle School

 

Students address the topic: “Your Message to the President: What issue is most important to you or your community?”

 

SILVER SPRING, MD (March 12, 2025) – C-SPAN announced the winners of the national 2025 StudentCam documentary competition awarding a total of $100,000 in cash prizes to all winning student documentaries. 

 

Eight teams from Eastern Middle School, consisting of 17 students in the eighth grade, are among the winners. These Eastern Eagles will be recognized later in the school year at Eastern Middle School’s annual C-SPAN StudentCam Ceremony.

 

Each year since 2006 C-SPAN has partnered with its local cable television providers in communities nationwide to invite middle and high school students to produce short documentaries about a subject of national importance. This year students addressed the theme, “Your Message to the President: What issue is most important to you or your community?” 

 

In response, over 3,500 students from across the country participated and Eastern’s winners were:

 

First Prize Winners

Sofia Ou, Eva Ingram, & Eliana Wei
8th Grade
One Party, Two Party, Red Party, Blue Party. But What About Third Parties?
Eastern Middle School
Silver Spring, MD
$3,000 Student Cash Prize Award / $750 School Cash Prize Award
Air Date: Thursday, April 17

 

Second Prize Winners

Francesca Bader & Larissa Deng

8th Grade

Redlining: Broken Lines, Broken Lives, about discriminatory housing policy

Eastern Middle School

Silver Spring, MD

$1,500 Student Cash Prize Award / $250 School Cash Prize Award

Air Date: Sunday, April 13

 

Third Prize Winners

Chloe Kim, Esme Chang-Gillespie, & Fiona Sisan

8th Grade

Eastern Middle School

Silver Spring, MD

$750 Student Cash Prize Award / $125 School Cash Prize Award

 

Honorable Mention Winners

Jack Summerfield, Akhil Menon, & Terrence McDonough

8th Grade

Eastern Middle School

Silver Spring, MD

$250 Student Cash Prize Award

 

Avani Durvasula

8th Grade

Eastern Middle School

Silver Spring, MD

$250 Student Cash Prize Award

 

Malinda Zhu & Gelila Abraham

8th Grade

Eastern Middle School

Silver Spring, MD

$250 Student Cash Prize Award

 

Meba Henoke, Atharva Bengeri, & Fatima Alhamim

8th Grade

Democracy Without Choice, about uncontested elections and term limits

Eastern Middle School

Silver Spring, MD

$250 Student Cash Prize Award

 

“Behind the Scenes” Photo Sub-Competition

Avani Durvasula (Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring, MD)

 

$100 Student Cash Prize Award

Winning videos are available to view at https://www.studentcam.org/studentcam-2025-prize-winners/ and may be used in a broadcast with attribution to C-SPAN.  Videos were evaluated by a panel of educators and C-SPAN representatives based on the thoughtful examination of the competition’s theme, quality of expression, inclusion of varying sides of the documentary’s topic, and effective incorporation of C-SPAN programming.