Hundreds of students and parents attended the Save a Student Summit hosted by Montgomery County Public Schools at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda on January 4, 2025, to learn about the dangers of opioid and fentanyl use, with workshops, Narcan training, and life-saving resources provided.
The event concluded with the announcement of winners in the State’s Attorney’s Office’s ‘Speak Up Save a Life’ video contest, where students created PSAs to raise awareness about the opioid crisis, winning prizes totaling thousands of dollars.
Per the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office: “The first-place winners, Erol Kalayoglu and Zachary Carter, who are juniors at Montgomery Blair High School, were also selected as the Fan Favorite by MCPS students. They won a total of $4,750 for their video entitled “You Have One Life Not Nine.”
The second-place prize, $2,000, was awarded to T.J. Lau, a student at Julius West Middle School, for his video, “ 2mg Killer.” Two students from The Heights School, Sully Dettleff and Thomas Cooney, were awarded the third-place prize of $750 for their video, “Protect a Friend.”
The generous prize donors, Magnolia Companies and The Good Samaritan Fund, surprised the ten remaining groups of finalists with $500 each.
State’s Attorney John McCarthy said, “Through this contest, we enlist middle and high school students to help spread awareness and life-saving messages about illicit opioid use and the dangers of fentanyl. We received more than 600 entries, many from groups of students working together, meaning thousands participated. The production value and creativity was outstanding.” He continued “While reviewing the entries we noted a common theme this year. Many of the videos focused on the pressure and stress of academics and teen life. We are gaining insight from this video contest. We need to help our young people make better choices and support them, so they don’t turn to drugs as a means of coping with the anxiety they have in their lives.”
The State’s Attorney’s Office would like to thank Montgomery County Public Schools, the PTSA and Montgomery Goes Purple for their partnership in these efforts. We have tremendous gratitude for Magnolia Companies and the Good Samaritan Fund who provide support in honor of two young community members lost to fentanyl, Michael Pisarra and Matthew Loudon.”