Baltimore-area students are 2025 winners in C-SPAN’s 21st annual StudentCam competition! Maryland winners hail from Columbia, Ellicott City, and Marriottsville, with honorable mentions and a prize of $250.Maryland honorable mention prize winners include:Owen Mayotte, a student at Long Reach High S chool in Columbia, “Harnessing the Sun: Clean Energy of the Future” Shreya Sundaram, Avery Chang and Rafia Mohammed, students at Centennial High School in Ellicott City, for the video, “Small Businesses: A Critical Component of a Strong Economy and a Tight-Knit Community” Lyra Su, Nandana Ratheesh and Helen Zhu, students at Centennial High School, for the video, “Drinking Water Quality: The Effect on Human Health and Education” Akshan Ranasinghe, a student at Marriotts Ridge High School in Marriottsville, for the video, “A Fair Chance,” about issues in educationC-SPAN also recognized educators Jody Zepp at Long Reach High School, and David Riddler and Corey O’Brien at Centennial High School, for serving as advisers in the StudentCam competition.Middle and high school students were asked to address the theme “Your Message to the President: What issue is most important to you or your community?” in their videos. They were encouraged to explore and analyze things that affected them or that they felt were important on a personal, local, or national level.C-SPAN received more than 1,700 entries from nearly 3,500 student participants from 42 states and Washington, D.C. The most popular topic students addressed were:Climate, Environment, and Land Use (11%) K–12 Education Policies and the Cost of College (10%) Health Care and Mental Health (10%) Gun Violence, School Safety, and Firearm Policies (9%) Inflation, Taxes, Government Spending, and the Economy (9%)“Congratulations to all of the incredibly talented young students who won awards in this year’s competition!” said Craig McAndrew, C-SPAN’s Director of Education Relations. “Through in-depth research and interviews with an array of topical and technical experts, you have crafted impactful short stories that capture issues of wide public interest and importance. Your documentaries set a very high bar for future StudentCam filmmakers, and you should be proud knowing your work will inspire your peers and foster thoughtful consideration from all audiences. We can’t wait to see what you do next!”In addition to awarding grand prize and first prizes, C-SPAN awarded 16 second prizes, 32, third prizes, and 97 honorable mentions in total.  These winning videos will receive $1,500, $750, and $250, respectively. C-SPAN’s StudentCam competition has awarded more than $1.6 million in prizes since 2004. ...read more read less