Capital Health Video Contest Encourages Local Teens to Reduce Screen Time

Thursday, August 1, 2024

As part of its newly formed Capital Healthy Students initiative, Capital Health recently announced four winners of the Teens Off Screens public service announcement (PSA) video contest for students in grades six through eight from middle schools in Mercer and Bucks counties. The campaign helped raise awareness about the dangers of excessive screen time while promoting healthier alternatives and digital mindfulness.

Capital Health received more than 200 entries from 23 middle schools in the region, with prizes awarded in four categories: Most Creative, Most Impactful, Best Messaging and Honorable Mention. Winning schools each received $2,000 for their respective school/parent organizations. Rebecca Kelly, director of Strategic Partnerships for Capital Health, presented award certificates to winning students and their teachers. She leads the Capital Healthy Students initiative, which includes campaigns focused on Anti-Vaping, Teens Off Screens, and the upcoming Wellness Warriors.

"We were thrilled with the amount of incredible videos we received, which made the judging process really tough this year," said Kelly. "The effort and thoughtfulness that went into each video was not only impressive, but heartwarming, too. Special thanks to everyone who entered, as well as to the dedicated teachers who assisted these talented students."

Winners of the Teens Off Screens PSA contest include:

Most Creative - Timberlane Middle School, Pennington, New Jersey
Students: Eleanor Carlton and MiMi Purtuc
Teachers: Ms. Aidan Sheehan; Dr. Barbara McCarty (not pictured)
Watch Video

Most Impactful - Newtown Middle School, Newtown, Pennsylvania
Student: Noah Sciortino
Teacher: Mr. Jack Fitzpatrick
Watch Video

Best Messaging - Charles Boehm Middle School, Yardley, Pennsylvania
Student: Willow DiPrato
Teacher: Ms. Susan Brennan
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Honorable Mention - Lawrence Middle School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Students: Rose-Marie Celestin, Sarah Conver, Destiny Davenport, Thomas Dryzga, Serrajas Elayda, Yordi Estebes Corado, Jackson Gauthier, Grace Guillaumette, Kamil Hajduczka, Bodhi Lamontagne, Madison Le, Simon Nemzer, Saumya Patel, Omar Reed, Zachary Renken, Liz Rivera Guzman, Karla Rustrian, Olivia Sarpong, Bibi-Zainab Shah, and Samuel Truch
Teacher: Mr. Jon-Erik Stamatelos
Watch Video

Capital Healthy Students is an innovative campaign developed by Capital Health to empower kids to become advocates for preventive health, adopt healthy habits early in life, and raise awareness to turn these habits into lifelong ones. In fall 2024, Capital Healthy Students will launch Wellness Warriors, another middle school PSA contest in which students will create and submit short videos demonstrating how they stay healthy and sharing tips for living a balanced and active lifestyle.

To learn more about Capital Healthy Students, visit capitalhealth.org/healthystudents, or contact Rebecca Kelly at [email protected].