Way to Go! Montauk, Levittown students win video contest
Eighth-grader Audrey Smith, left, and seventh-grader Daisy Pitches, who both attend Montauk School, won the grand prize for grades K-8 in an annual video contest coordinated by the Rural Schools Association of New York State. Credit: J. Philip Perna
Three Long Island students have been named grand-prize winners in a statewide contest that asked them to create uplifting videos about their schools and communities.
Samantha Snevily, a senior at Division Avenue High School in Levittown, won the grand prize for grades 9 to 12 in the contest coordinated by the Rural Schools Association of New York State and New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal. The K-8 grand prize was won by eighth-grader Audrey Smith and seventh-grader Daisy Pitches, who attend the Montauk School.
Snevily's video included dance segments performed by peers and a voice-over in which she stressed the importance of coming together as a community in difficult times. It was accompanied by Ross Lynch's song "Better Together."
"My school is what makes my community," Snevily said. "It's so important, especially during times like this, to come together because, like the song says, if we do, we'll make it through whatever because we are simply better together."
The video produced by Smith and Pitches expressed their love for their school and appreciation for administrators and teachers, while highlighting such events as the school's Multicultural Night and Sports Night.
Snevily received $1,000, and Smith and Pitches split a $1,000 prize.
— MICHAEL R. EBERT
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
