Laramie High School Student is First Prize Winner in C-SPAN Competition

A Laramie High School Student has won first prize in C-SPAN’s national 2107 StudentCam competition.

Freshman Arundathi Nair will receive $3,000 for her documentary, “Fossil Fuels to Renewables.” Her documentary will also be aired on C-Span at 6:50 a.m. Eastern Time and throughout the day on April 18, according to a C-SPAN news release.

Each year, since 2006, C-SPAN partners with local cable affiliates in communities nationwide to invite middle and high school students to produce short documentaries on an issue of national importance. This year, students answered the question, “Your message to Washington: What is the most urgent issue for the new president and Congress to address in 2017?”

C-SPAN is funded by America’s cable television companies, which support StudentCam. In Laramie, C-SPAN is available locally through Spectrum.

"Spectrum is honored to partner with C-SPAN on their annual documentary contest, StudentCam, and are happy to congratulate local winner, Arundathi Nair. This student tackled an issue that was important to her, her community and our nation. Education is important to Spectrum, and we applaud C-SPAN as they continue to offer educational opportunities to young leaders to voice their opinions," said Adam Falk, SVP of State Government Affairs, Charter Communications in a statement.

C-SPAN received a record 2,903 video submissions from over 5,600 students in 46 states and Washington, D.C this year. Students worked in teams or as individuals to address a wide range of public policy issues from equality and the economy, to the environment and education, according to the release.

"With the new president and Congress in office, we wanted to hear from students about public policy issues they would like addressed in 2017," said Craig McAndrew, C-SPAN's Manager of Education Relations in a statement. "StudentCam offers young people the opportunity to connect with lawmakers and experts and provides them with a platform to voice their opinions creatively."

Nair is among 321 students from across the country winning a total of $100,000, including one grand prize winner, four first prize winners, 16 second prize winners, 32 third prize winners and 97 honorable mentions.

The annual competition is sponsored by the C-SPAN Education Foundation. Videos were evaluated by a panel of educators and C-SPAN representatives based on the thoughtful examination of the competition’s theme, quality of expression, inclusion of varying sides of the documentary’s topic, and effective incorporation of C-SPAN programming.

For those who can't tune in on April 18, Nair’s documentary, as well as the 150 other winning videos, can be viewed at StudentCam’s website.