A Cedar Crest High School student won first prize in the 60 second video category for this year’s Prevent Suicide PA PSA Contest for Youth Suicide Prevention.
Watch the video below.
The primary producer of the video was sophomore Catelynn Bortz.
Other students behind the cameras on the project included Madison Yoder, sophomore; Della Reed, freshman; William Earp, junior; and Jacob Mensch, freshman. Hannah Siebert, sophomore, was also recognized for providing help on the project. Catelynn said that her mentor, Mr. Christopher Schwalm, also helped a lot in the editing process
Bortz is a student in Schwalm’s Broadcast Video Production 1 class. Schwalm was recently named Student Television Network’s 2019 Teacher of the Year.
“This contest was meant to hit home,” she said in an email. “It was meant to make the consumer think about what they were watching.”
She emphasized how important it is that everyone understands they are worthy of living and being heard. She brought her own insight into the hard work and dedication it takes to fight the battle. Her compassion must have responded with judges to win the award, and Catelynn said she was in shock when she learned she won.
“I didn’t believe that I was going to win because the competition was so good this year,” she said. “I feel so blessed that I was even given the opportunity to put my message out there.”
Catelynn said that she felt like her classmates, Mr. Schwalm, and she all deserved the win together because they all worked hard to make it happen.
Another Cedar Crest High School student, sophomore Anna Rose Beamesderfer, received a Noteworthy award for her poster, designed as part of Mrs. Andrea Klein’s art class.
