Student Filmmakers Take Top Honors in Statewide Safety Contest

Following our Film and Video Program Career and Technical Education (CTE) month highlight in February, the district is sharing the results from the Oregon Young Employee Safety (OYES) media contest.

Under the guidance of teacher Kevin Freedman, students from Filmmaking 1 and Advanced Filmmaking submitted 13 videos this year, which is the highest number of entries in our program’s history. These student-produced public service announcements are designed to raise critical awareness about workplace health and safety for young employees.

This year’s contest marked a series of “firsts” for the program:

• First time taking home the 1st Place trophy.
• First time securing two of the top three winning spots statewide.
• First time sending three separate entries to the finalist round.

1st Place, “Beat the Heat”, Carlos Vanegas (Crescent Valley High School)

3rd Place, “Dehydrated Cowboy”, Toni Kimmel (Crescent Valley High School), Dilara Ates (Corvallis High School), & Sky Fu-Ramsey (Corvallis High School)

Finalist, “Scorchingly Unsafe”, Gray Hendricks (Corvallis High School) & Finn Hopson (Corvallis High School)

The talent of these young filmmakers extends far beyond the classroom. Oregon OSHA will use these videos in their official campaigns to prevent heat-related illnesses across the state.

The district plans to use these student productions to promote our own Heat Safety Plan to staff members this spring. In addition to the statewide recognition, the winning students received monetary prizes, and the Crescent Valley Film program was awarded a grant to support future cinematic projects.

Congratulations to all of our finalists and winners for helping build a safer community!