Three junior high students from La Palma are among a select few from across the country who have been recognized for excellence in documentary filmmaking, The C-SPAN Classroom project has announced.
Mollie Saddul, Giselle Guillermo, and Arya Patel, all of whom are 7th-grade students at Walker Junior High were awarded a 2025 honorable mention in C-SPAN’s 21st annual StudentCam competition, the organization said in a statement.
Robin Newton, a media relations specialist at C-SPAN in Washington, D.C. said the students received certificates and a $250 cash prize for their video, “Beyond the Rainbow; Ban Synthetic Dyes.”
C-SPAN also recognized Valerie Amijo and Tina Alvahuante, educators at the school who served as student advisors in the StudentCam competition.
C-SPAN said that in cooperation with its cable and satellite television partners, they asked middle and high school students to address the theme — “Your Message to the President: What issue is most important to you or your community?”
Now in its 21st year, this project-based learning experience asked students to explore and analyze matters of personal, local, or national importance. In response, C-SPAN received over 1,700 entries and nearly 3,500 students participated from 42 states and Washington, D.C., the statement said.
Amijo and Alvahuante, who teach honors Civics at Walker, said their Civics Core classes often engage in a variety of activities to “strengthen their understanding of civic responsibility and encourage active participation in their communities.
“From analyzing current events to completing action-based projects and forming partnerships with local organizations, these experiences have allowed students to use their voices and make meaningful contributions to the world around them,” they told ENE in a statement.
Tina Alvahuante (left) and Valerie Armijo (right), teach Core 7, an honors English and history class, with an emphasis in civics at Walker JHS.
“We decided on implementing C-SPAN’s StudentCam, which provided the perfect platform for students to express their voices by combining research, critical thinking, and multimedia storytelling to engage in meaningful civic discourse,” they said.For the winning student filmmakers, the teachers said their project started with the class watching a thought-provoking video on synthetic dyes, which sparked a class discussion that revealed just how little they knew about the potential dangers of these additives, so the students researched the health and environmental risks of synthetic dyes.
“Throughout their investigation, the students demonstrated creativity, strong communication, and collaboration. They divided responsibilities, engaged with multiple perspectives, and worked as a team to present their findings in a compelling and informative way,” the teachers said.
“Their ability to synthesize information and share it effectively highlighted their dedication to civic inquiry and their commitment to raising awareness about an important consumer issue,” said Amijo.
“Beyond their teamwork, the students exemplified integrity in handling sources, ensuring that their research was credible and responsibly cited,” they said.
“Their critical thinking skills were evident as they evaluated the broader implications of synthetic dyes, considering how misinformation or lack of awareness could affect public perception and decision-making.”
When three seventh graders were pulled out of their classes at Walker Junior High School in La Palma recently, one of the students thought, at first, there could be trouble, according to a statement from the school.
“At first I thought we were in trouble, but then she smiled and told us we were the ONLY 7th-grade team who won an honorable mention for our C-SPAN video,” said Molly Saddul.
“Words can’t explain how exhilarated and proud we were to receive this news,” she said.
“All of our hard work, late nights, and FaceTime calls won us the only team in our school district to earn this award,” she said.
” Communication is one of the most important factors when it comes to the progression of a video,” said Giselle Guillermo.
“None of us had many classes together, so we would often talk about our topic before and after school. If there was ever something that needed to be changed or fixed, we would always ask each other,” she said.
“If there was ever something that needed to be changed or fixed, we would always ask each other first for consent. Working together made the development process of our project run much smoother and efficiently, ultimately leading to a successful outcome,” the seventh grader said.
“When thinking about what we would make our documentary about, rather than something worldwide, we focused on our school and community,” said Arya Patel.
“Looking around, we realized a big issue was what our peers were eating on a day-to-day basis, which were snacks that had huge amounts of synthetic dyes,” she said.
“Everywhere we glanced, someone was snacking on Flaming Hot Cheetos or drinking a bottle of Gatorade. After further research and reading various articles, my group knew that this topic was something that affected our communities’ mental and physical health, which is why we felt the need to spread awareness and try to make a change,” said Patel.
When news reached the school, the teachers were “overjoyed.”
“It was an incredible moment to see their efforts pay off. From the beginning, they were so engaged in the topic and took complete ownership of their learning. Their passion really came through in their research and presentation,” said Amijo.
“Their hard work and thoughtful approach to the project earned them well-deserved recognition, further proving that when students are allowed to explore real-world issues and take action, they rise to the occasion—using their voices to create change,” said Alvahuante.
“Congratulations to all the incredibly talented young students who won awards in this year’s competition! Through in-depth research and interviews with an array of topical and technical experts, you have crafted impactful short stories that capture issues of wide public interest and importance,” said C-SPAN’s Director of Education Relations Craig McAndrew in the C-SPAN statement.
“Your documentaries set a very high bar for future StudentCam filmmakers, and you should be proud knowing your work will inspire your peers and foster thoughtful consideration from all audiences. We can’t wait to see what you do next,” said McAndrew.
C-SPAN is funded by America’s cable and satellite television companies as a commercial-free public service. In La Palma, C-SPAN is available through Spectrum, the local partner in StudentCam, the organization said in its statement.
The 150 winning videos can be viewed at studentcam.org and may be used in a broadcast with attribution to C-SPAN.
A direct link to the award-winning documentary produced by the three La Palma students will additionally be posted on the ENE website.
The annual StudentCam competition is funded by the C-SPAN Education Foundation. Videos were evaluated by a panel of educators and C-SPAN representatives based on the thoughtful examination of the competition’s theme, quality of expression, inclusion of varying sides of the documentary’s topic, and effective incorporation of C-SPAN programming, the organization said.