Choose Your Favorite Student Produced COVID-19 Video

More Than 300 Entries Received for “Take Your Shot” PSA Contest

For Immediate Release: Monday, Aug. 9, 2021

You are invited to pick your favorite video from the top 16 submissions from the recent “Take Your Shot” Public Service Announcement (PSA) contest, which was launched to get more young people educated about the importance of getting a COVID-19 vaccination. Voting for the “fan favorite” will end Monday, Aug.16. The video that receives the most likes on YouTube will be named the winner and receive a $100 gift card.

Allan Bernal Diaz and Christian Ramos Reyes, students from Eastern Middle School and Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle School respectively, took the top prize for a Spanish-language video and first place in the middle school division for their video “No Tengas Miedo—Vacunate!”.  Sophia Hall, a student at the Holton-Arms School won first place in the high school category for the PSA “Lost.”  The prize for the first-place finish in each category is $500 and $100 for the best Spanish language video.

“I am extremely proud of all the students who submitted a video,” said County Executive Marc Elrich.  “As far as I am concerned, they are all winners. We launched the contest to get kids involved so that they are talking to each other. The contest supports our goal of vaccinating as many eligible young people as possible. As a former Montgomery County Public Schools teacher, I really believe that the work of these students will help us get more young people vaccinated.”

Sponsored by the County’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and MCPS, the “Take Your Shot” contest received more than 300 entries and was designed to encourage young people to talk with their friends about the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccination. With the rise in COVID-19 cases from the Delta variant, the PSAs will be useful as the County continues to push the importance of vaccination for everyone who is eligible. The contest invited middle and high school students to produce videos that explored one of the following themes:

• Why should everyone get the COVID-19 vaccine?
• What makes you want to get vaccinated?
• When people, like us, get vaccinated, we can……

Other winners included students from the Communication Arts Program at Montgomery Blair High School and A. A. Mario Loiederman Middle School for the Creative and Performing Arts.

“This contest demonstrated the pent-up need for young people to express their feelings about the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Raymond Crowel, director of DHHS. “The pandemic has dominated their lives for the past year, and these videos show the joy and exuberance they feel now that they have the freedom that comes with vaccination.”

          Winners are:

1st Prize HS $500	“Lost”	Sophia Hall	Holton-Arms
2nd Prize HS $250	“Back to Life”	Caleb Collins and Brian Siegel	Richard Montgomery HS
3rd Prize HS $150	“What Are the Side Effects?”	Christian Testa, Ryan Whittaker, and Alvin Lee	Richard Montgomery HS
1st Prize MS $500	“No Tengas Miedo - ¡Vacunate!”	Allan Bernal Diaz and Christian Ramos Reyes	Eastern MS and Col. E. Brooke Lee MS
2nd Prize MS $250	“Don’t Throw Away Your Shot!”	Valerie Merkowitz, Neha Narayan, Pauline Mann, Lorrilee Soderstrum	A. Mario Loiederman Middle School
3rd Prize MS $150	“Let’s Get Back to Normal”	Hannah Clarke	Farquhar MS
Best Spanish Language $100	“No Tengas Miedo - ¡Vacunate!”	Allan Bernal Diaz and Christian Ramos Reyes	Eastern MS and Col. E. Brooke Lee MS
Best Animation $100	“Why YOU Should Get the COVID-19 Vaccine”	Sophia Li	Montgomery Blair HS
Best Technical Execution $100	“Back to Normal”	Hailie Clarke	Northwood HS
Funniest $100	“Don’t Trust Those Karens”	Nathan Arega	Roberto Clemente MS

View the videos and vote by Monday, Aug. 16.  Winning videos will be used on the County’s Twitter and Facebook pages.  Find information about where to get a COVID-19 vaccination at www.GoVAXMoCo.com. 

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Media Contact: Mary Anderson, mary.anderson@montgomerycountymd.gov