SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – South Suburban College (SSC), with the assistance of Career Development Systems (CDS), hosted the 10th Annual South Suburban College Video Competition on Thursday, April 20, 2017, in the Kindig Performing Arts Center. The competition showcases talent from high schools as well as provides students with tours of the college’s facilities, including the television studio, audio studio and multimedia lab.
“It’s important for my students to tour South Suburban College because they just don’t realize how amazing facilities are so close to home,” said Eisenhower High School teacher, Jodi Pelini. Michael Jones, parent of Bremen High School senior/competition participant, Brittany Jones, felt it was beneficial for South Suburban College to host a video competition for high schoolers because students get familiar with SSC’s options. He was impressed with the variety of videos he saw at the event. Brittany and some of her classmates placed 3rd in the PSA and Music Video categories.
Ten high schools submitted entries to the competition including Bremen, Eisenhower, Hillcrest, Oak Forest, Richards, Shepard, Southland Prep, Thornridge, Thornton Township and Tinley Park. Students entered work in eight different categories: Commercial, PSA, Short Subject, Music Video, Live Multi-Camera Program, Creative Editing, News Story or Feature and News Program. The 69 entries were judged on aesthetic quality, technical quality, program design and overall effectiveness.
Angie Zavala, a senior at Eisenhower High School, took home two 1st place trophies and three 2nd place ribbons. When Zavala graduates, she plans to continue her education and has a goal of entering the film industry as a director. Zavala was ecstatic to see how many awards she won and said, “I enjoyed looking at my peers’ video submissions during the award ceremony the most.” Her partner on the music video submission that took 1st place was junior Brianna Smith. She wants to create a book series and adapt those books into film. Smith enjoyed watching video clips of nominees on the big screen to see how she can improve her submissions for next year’s competition.
In addition to the student awards, high schools competed for the Regional Award of Distinction. Eisenhower High School won this year’s award having the highest average score per entry. “I love the way the awards are announced,” said Pelini. “This competition allows students to take pride in their work and get recognized for hard work.”
The student awards for each category are as follows:
Commercial: First Place, “Cardinal AdBlock” – Eisenhower; Second Place, “Cardinal Football: Are You Ready?” – Eisenhower; Third Place, “Betrayer” – Bremen.
PSA: First Place, “All it Takes is One” – Eisenhower; Second Place, “You Are Not Alone” – Eisenhower; Third Place, “Use Your Head” – Bremen.
Short Subject: First Place, “3.141592653 THE MOVIE” – Tinley Park; Second Place, “Siren” – Eisenhower; Third Place, “While it Lasts” – Tinley Park.
Music Video: First Place, “The Kids Aren’t Alright” – Eisenhower; Second Place, “Striking Down” – Oak Forest; Third Place, “Tinnitus by Everyone Says” – Bremen.
Live Multi-Camera Program: First Place, “The Diary of Anne Frank” – Eisenhower; Second Place, “Chaleisa Lately” – Hillcrest; Third Place, “So Late it’s Early” – Tinley Park.
Creative Editing: First Place, “Unite” – Eisenhower; Second Place, “Life Undocumented” – Thornton Township; Third Place, “I am Eisenhower” – Eisenhower.
News Story or Feature: First Place, “Lexi” – Eisenhower; Second Place, “Worms” – Southland Prep; Third Place, “The Closet” – Eisenhower.
News Program: First Place, “Wildcat News” – Thornton Township; Second Place, “Ike Update” – Eisenhower; Third Place, “Talon NewsNet Channel 5” – Southland Prep.
For more information about all of SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718.
