Activity #3

State Farm “Celebrate My Drive” Contest & Video

10/1/13 - 10/13/13

12 hrs 

Service (7.5 hours); Creativity (4.5 hours)

Outcome 1 was reached because my skill at filmmaking was needed to create a video that would promote this contest. I learned more about my skill and how to get better at it in the process. Outcome 3 was achieved because it was my idea, with encouragement fro my principal, to make this video to promote the contest that would eventually win my school a large sum of cash. Outcome 4 was automatic considered I had numerous people help me by acting in the video. They inspired me with ideas, while I made our ideas come to life on video. Outcome 5 is always achieved when I take on video projects, because I am the sole cameraman, director, and editor, so everything is my responsibility and I have to remain focused on reaching the final product.

State Farm’s “Celebrate My Drive” contest is one done every year to promote safe driving in all people, but especially teen drivers. My school signed up to take the challenge starting my junior year, which meant we had to rack up safe driving commitments which would earn us a ranking and the chance to win money. Being a member of the Page Principle’s Council my junior year gave me the perks of being in close cohorts with my principal (and still to this day), who encouraged me create video to promote this contest and help win the school money. She knew I had  background in filmmaking because I had made a video for the Council to show to the Superintendent of Schools of North Carolina my sophomore year. On top of that, I spent a few weeks helping rally support for people to go online and make commitments for our school to help us win. The video I made for this contest showed a family sending their daughter off to college, and the choices she made while driving that could have changed her life. Luckily, she had her seatbelt on, her mirrors positioned correctly, and her speed in check. This video can be seen here at my YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbRdYTi6_1I

This video was valuable because it gave students at Page inspiration to go online and commit to safe driving. The operation of doing this was tedious, and I saw how people complained about this before they saw the video. This video served as the motivation for them todo it and share it with their friends, which ultimately helped us win $25,000 in the competition! Though the top scoring school could win $100,000, the 25 grand we won still helped the school tremendously, as we used it to purchase a mobile computer lab for a section of the school that lacked computers. Now teachers can schedule days when their class can use the lab for typing and web surfing, which are things students need to be able to do in 21st century education, which we could not before.