By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
The students at Red Bank Middle School — aka the video factory — are adding another award-winner to their bounty.
For the second year in a row, the school’s students pulled in a $3,000 grant for winning first prize in the national National Pest World‘s public service announcement contest.
“That means a lot to them,” says Holcombe Hurd, a teacher who helped oversee the video production. “That makes them feel part of a real successful community.”
The winning entry, called “Mosquito Bite,” is an informational music video about the threats posed by common pests and was totally produced by and features middle school students, Hurd says. It’s a talent that has become second-hand at the school. RBMS has pulled in a number of prizes — and money — for its videos.
‘They’re learning the craft and we’re creating a culture of proficiency, you could say,” Hurd says.
A couple years ago Hurd and other teachers would spend more time guiding the students in the how-to process of video production. But now, he says, “you spend more time being creative.”
The $3,000 will go toward science and technology equipment, Hurd says.
While the school has racked up prizes in recent years, still eluding the students is the coveted e-Instruction grand prize of $30,000, Hurd says. The school has placed in the Top 10 the last couple years, and fell short again this year. It’s not the quality of the videos that’s keeping them from the top, it’s the lack of votes, he says.
“Our big dream is to win that one someday,” he says.
