Montgomery Blair High School and Eastern Middle School students have won top prizes in the 2025 C-SPAN StudentCam documentary competition.
Nearly 3,500 students from across the country participated this year, and 150 cash prizes totaling $100,000 were awarded to students and teachers.
This year’s competition encouraged students to explore and analyze personal, local, or national issues by addressing the theme: “Your Message to the President: What issue is most important to you or your community?”
Blair student Dermott Foley has been named the grand prize winner for 2025, earning a $5,000 award for his documentary “Teens, Social Media, & the Fentanyl Overdose Crisis.” The documentary will air on C-SPAN on April 21 at 6:50 a.m. ET and will be broadcast throughout the day.
Foley previously won first prize in last year’s StudentCam competition for his documentary on the Maryland Purple Line.
In the Middle School division, national first-prize winners Sofia Ou, Eva Ingram, and Eliana Wei from Eastern Middle School will receive $3,000 for their documentary, “One Party, Two Party, Red Party, Blue Party: But What About Third Parties?” This documentary will air on C-SPAN on April 17 at 6:50 a.m. ET and will be shown throughout the day.
The C-SPAN Education Foundation funds the annual StudentCam competition, and a panel of educators and C-SPAN representatives evaluated the videos based on their thoughtful examination of the theme, quality of expression, inclusion of diverse perspectives, and effective incorporation of C-SPAN programming.
Since its inception in 2004, the StudentCam competition has awarded over $1.6 million in prizes.
“Congratulations to all of the incredibly talented young students who won awards in this year’s competition! 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,” said C-SPAN’s Director of Education Relations Craig McAndrew. “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 the grand-prize and first-prize winners, C-SPAN will award 16 second prizes, 32 third prizes, and 97 honorable mention prizes with cash awards of $1,500, $750, and $250, respectively.
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