Students’ video production wins $1,000 award for DMS

Demopolis Middle School students garnered yet another award when it was announced last week the school came in second place for the production of a one-minute video.

The honor brings with it a $1,000 prize, which principal Blaine Hathcock said will be put back into the broadcasting program at the school.

Sponsored by the Alabama Association of School Boards, the contest was open to all middle and high schools in the state. Taking first place was G.W. Carver High School in Birmingham. Third went to Dadeville High School in Tallapoosa County, and Central Middle School of Coosa County earned honorable mention.

The contest theme was “How We Achieve Excellence in Our School.” The winning videos will be shown at the June 10 state Board of Education meeting in Montgomery and on Dec. 5 during the closing session of the AASB annual convention in Birmingham.

The contest rules stipulated that the video had to be totally student-driven, said Hathcock. Students shot the video, write the script, did the voice-over and did extensive editing of their work to make the final product.

“This shows how far the students have come,” said Hathcock. The program began at DMS in the spring of 2014.

The school learned of the contest when former superintendent Dr. Al Griffin passed on the information to Meggin Mayben, who teaches the broadcasting class at the school.

Looking to the future, Hathcock said the curriculum could extend to live broadcasts of games, pageants and other school events. It could even be a possible money-maker by selling advertising time.

All this is in anticipation of the strides being made academically at DMS.

“We want to be the best middle school in Alabama,” Hathcock said.

In addition, the Alabama Public Television and AASB websites will post the videos. Hathcock said it also will be available locally on the school’s website.