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Iowa City student wins prize in C-SPAN’s national video documentary competition
City High student receives honorable mention for his documentary ‘Prescribing Change: America’s Healthcare Crisis“
Iowa City High School student Jaxon Robertson is a 2024 honorable mention prize winner in C-SPAN’s 20th annual StudentCam competition and will receive $250 for his documentary “Prescribing Change: America’s Healthcare Crisis.”
Robertson was one of thousands of students to submit entries to the project-based learning experience that gives students the opportunity to explore multiple perspectives on topics that are important to them.
The six-minute documentary explores the impact of being underinsured and uninsured, the availability and access of health care providers — particularly in rural areas — the cost of prescription drugs and medical procedures and percentage of people living with chronic health conditions in the United States.
Roberson considers solutions like investing in preventive health care and dismantling the U.S.’s fee-for-service health care model.
The documentary can be viewed online at viddler.com/v/ebdccdf5.
C-SPAN asked middle and high school students to address the theme, “Looking Forward while Considering the Past,” through one of the following prompts:
- In the next 20 years, what is the most important change that you would like to see in America?
- Over the past 20 years, what has been the most important change in America?
"Students have skillfully blended their perspectives with in-depth research and an array of expert interviews, and we are thrilled to share their accomplishments with their local communities and the nation,” said Craig McAndrew, director of C-SPAN education relations.
C-SPAN is funded by America’s cable television companies, who also support StudentCam. In Iowa City, C-SPAN is available locally through Mediacom.
High school students competed regionally in one of three regions: West, Central and East. Middle school students were judged on a national basis. The grand prize winner was selected nationally among all regions and grade levels.
The annual StudentCam 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.
The most popular topics addressed by students were:
- Artificial intelligence, technology and social media (18 percent)
- Abortion, health care and mental health (17 percent)
- Climate, energy and land use and pollution (13 percent)
- School safety, gun policy and criminal justice (11 percent)
- And economy, school funding and homelessness (8 percent)
Over the course of two decades, C-SPAN has awarded more than $1.5 million in prizes. Since 2004, more than 63,000 students and 20,000 teachers have participated in the competition.
StudentCam has been a catalyst for inspiring young minds to think critically about issues that are important to them and has empowered them with the tools they need to become informed, civically engaged citizens.
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