Three groups of students from Western Australian Catholic schools were last month awarded in the 2015 Students Advising Youth (SAY) Project, after producing films highlighting some of the negative aspects of alcohol.
Year 12 Iona Presentation College students, Jessica Kerr and Tequita McDonald’s film The Problems of Alcohol took out first place with its creative and engaging approach.
The girls’ entry into the competition, a WA Police initiative, met the brief of researching the negative aspects of alcohol, and promoting a message of alcohol awareness for the community through film.
They received a trophy and a cheque for $3,000 from the Lions Club of Mandurah during a ceremony at the Mandurah Performing Arts Theatre, which was attended by state, local and federal government representatives, Lions Club members, and students from across the state.
Jessica and Tequita worked together for a month to plan, script, film and edit their entry.
Their use of a young character, who introduces themselves saying, “Hi, I’m Alcohol”, before narrating a series of personal experiences touching on physical risks of drinking as well as the potential for damage to close relationships, was an innovative and effective technique for getting the film’s message across.
The girls decided to donate one third of their prize money to the Nano Nagle Bursary fund at their College, a fund that assists in providing an education at Iona to a student who might otherwise not be able to do so for financial reasons.
Samuel Tour, Nick Kirkham and Finn Richards from John XXIII College, and Alen and Alvin Vaddakkedathu and Arin Regi from St Norbert College, were also awarded with trophies and cheques at the ceremony for producing two of the top ten entries in the SAY Project.
The competition received submissions from 33 schools, youth groups and youth organisations, with more than 400 students from across the state involved.
Courtesy Catholic Education Office WA
