Trenton High School Class Receives Honorable Mention from MLCC

teacher Leanne Shultz’s Electronic Media Production class received an honorable mention from one of the most unlikely of places Thursday—the Michigan Liquor Control Commission.

The class submitted two unique videos to the commission for a public service announcement contest that included all Michigan middle and high schools.

According to a MLCC release students were encouraged to produce 30-to-60-second video public service announcements with the tag line “We All Lose When Kids Buy Booze.”

Shultz was surprised and excited when she heard the news.

“I think it’s awesome,” Shultz said. “I was really hoping we would get some kind of mention for this contest.”

Two teams made up of five Trenton High School juniors and seniors created two different videos to be submitted. Shultz said three other videos were made and she selected the best two out of five videos for the contest.

“The two groups did a really good job dealing with a mature subject,” Shultz said. “The students in this community can be given these kinds of (mature) assignments.”

Several schools across the state submitted videos and the top three winning schools were Kalamazoo Christian High School in Kalamazoo with their video Why Waste Your Life; Nah Tah Wahsh Public School Academy in Wilson with This Is Myron; and Negaunee Middle School in Negaunee with We All Lose When Kids Buy Booze.

The top schools received $500, $300 and $100 for first, second and third places.

Shultz said her students are always looking to use their experience to beef up their resumes or help get them into a college program, and the honorable mention will mean a lot to them.

“They are always asking me how to share their stuff and add to their resumes,” Shultz said. “I’m trying to give them opportunities to express themselves in many different ways."

This is not the first time Shultz’s class has received commendation for their efforts.

The class received an honorable mention and a third-place prize for participating in two contests held by the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association.

The class puts on various television and video-related productions that can be seen on Comcast Channel 22 and Wide Open West Channel 18 in Trenton.

Recently, they’ve added sporting events to their repertoire and sports fans can catch their work at www.mhsaa.tv/trenton.

“This is my third year here at the high school, and when I first came in, the program had been very different than what I had in mind and, I can say now, I finally got it to the point to where I want the program to be,” Shultz said.

The two videos were created and produced entirely by students in the class and, according to the MLCC release, they will be available to view mid-June on the MLCC website, www.michigan.gov/lcc and the Michigan Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking (MCRUD) website at www.mcrud.org.