The next generation of rising film stars showcase their originality every year during Solano County’s annual water awareness student video contest.
The competition, in its 14th year, is open to grades 6-12. Shea Kinser, education program manager with the Solano Resource Conservation District and contest supervisor, observes, “It’s about getting kids involved in water conservation and getting the word out on how students can do their part and educate their peers.”
The contest is implemented by the SRCD and sponsored by the Solano County Water Agency, a wholesaler that serves the county’s cities and agricultural districts. Located in Vacaville, California, 35 miles from Sacramento, it provides untreated water from the Solano Water Project and the North Bay Aqueduct of the State Water Project.
Resource conservation districts are nonregulatory special districts spread across the state. They deal with flood and watershed protection.
MAKING VIDEOS
The contest is promoted through flyers posted in libraries and on its social media, and from relationships the two entities have built with educators and schools. It is also promoted on the district’s websites. All teachers can sponsor videos with their students, but the majority who do so teach science and media arts.
Contestants have three months starting January 1 to submit their entries. Videos are limited to 60 seconds, must be on water awareness and conservation and is scored according to a judging criteria:
- Creativity and entertainment value
- Organization
- Techniques and videography
- Sound quality
- Accuracy of the content
The theme of the contest for 2024 is “Think Beyond the Sink.” Judges differ every year but always include local officials from both water agencies, and in some years professors from colleges with media arts degrees. A radio personality has been a judge for many years.
Every year about 100 entries are submitted. There are three grand prizes, all shared equally by the student and sponsoring teacher. First place is $1,500 in cash, second place is $1,000 and third place is $500. The three teachers who sponsor the most eligible videos each receive a $200 gift card (the minimum for consideration is 10 videos).
SHOOTING STARS
The winning videos and winners’ names are posted on the district’s YouTube channel and are announced before the end of the school year. Representatives from State Sen. Bill Dodd’s office also judge the entries and print certificates for the winners. The rising stars who shoot the videos are celebrated at school assemblies; last year one student also presented a winning entry at a city council meeting.
Ideas run the gamut, from a superhero telling how to conserve water to three friends who learned how to travel through time to prevent poor water habits. Some entries are rap songs on how to conserve water. In another video, a young lady detective tries to figure out why a house is losing so much water. She goes sleuthing to see where the waste is coming from and then fixes the problem.
To avoid wasting water making the video, one student used blue paper mâché to represent water in all her shots. There is no limit to the students’ creativity, and it shows in all the submissions.
To support the contest and continue water education efforts throughout the year, the district does classroom visits and presentations, sponsors field trips to parks and marshes, and provides intensive three-day teacher training through its water training institute.
