Eastern MS Students Dermott and Tyler Foley Win Grand Prize in C-SPAN’s 2022 Student Cam

Tyler and Dermott Foley will receive $5,000 for the Grand Prize documentary, “What Happened to Gibson Grove?”

C-SPAN has announced the winners of this year’s StudentCam documentary competition, in which more than 3,000 students from across the country participated. Again this year, 150 cash prizes totaling $100,000 will be awarded to students and teachers.

The competition, now in its 18th year, asked students to join the national conversation on the challenges our country is facing with the theme: “How does the federal government impact your life?”

The 2022 grand prize winners are siblings Tyler and Dermott Foley, students at Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring, Maryland, where C-SPAN is available through its partner Comcast. The Foleys will receive $5,000 for the documentary, “What Happened to Gibson Grove?” about highways, racial injustice and the fight to save America’s Black cemeteries. This documentary will air on C-SPAN at 6:50 a.m. ET and throughout the day April 21.

In cooperation with its cable television partners, C-SPAN invited all middle and high school students to enter the documentary contest. In response, C-SPAN received over 1,400 entries from 41 states, Washington, D.C., Morocco and South Korea. The most popular topics addressed were:

• Environment & Pollution (10%)
• Health Care & Mental Health (9%)
• COVID-19 & Recovery (7%)
• Immigration (5%)

• 2nd Amendment & Firearm Legislation (4%)

  “This year we asked students to reflect on how a federal program or policy is relevant to their lives and communities,” said Craig McAndrew, director of C-SPAN Education Relations. “The winners showcased exceptional research and production values as they wove personal stories with historical or contemporary issues. These middle and high school students far exceeded our expectations, and we are elated to share their hard work with the country.”

  High school students competed on a regional level, with the United States divided into three regions: East, Central and West. Middle school students were judged on a national basis. The grand prize winner was selected nationally among all regions and grade levels.

  Evelyn Shue and Ida Chen, Maryland students at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville and Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, will receive $3,000 as first prize winners in the East region for the documentary, “Something in the Water,” about the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. In Rockville and Potomac, C-SPAN is available through Comcast. This documentary will air on C-SPAN at 6:50 a.m. ET and throughout the day April 19.

  Each winning video is available to view at www.studentcam.org and may be used in a broadcast with attribution to C- SPAN.

  The annual StudentCam competition is sponsored by the C-SPAN Education Foundation. 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