For Immediate Release
May 23, 2019
Monterey Bay Area High School Students Awarded for Their Videos about Water-Wise Gardening
May 23, 2019 (Soquel, CA) Nine winners were recognized for their original videos about Water Wise Gardens at the Soquel Creek Water District Board Meeting on May 21, 2019. There will be other recognition ceremonies for the winning videos in late June in Carmel, Scotts Valley and Watsonville. The fifth annual student-made video contest this year was organized by the Water Conservation Coalition of Santa Cruz County (WCC), and the Monterey County Water Awareness Committee (WAC). Over 90 videos were submitted from the following high schools in the Monterey Bay area: Aptos, Carmel, Gonzales, Pajaro Valley, Scotts Valley and Watsonville High School!
Local high school video production classes offered through the Santa Cruz County Career and Technical Training Program (formerly Regional Occupation Program (ROP)) and other video production classes for High School and College students in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties were invited to submit short public service announcement (PSA) videos in English or Spanish.
Contest organizers were enthusiastic about the results. "These students did a great job of learning the facts about water wise gardening and all the ways you can conserve and protect water. We really enjoyed the creative energy that went into them," said Vai Campbell, of Soquel Creek Water. "We commend each student that participated and the teachers who supported the contest."
The winning videos can be viewed on the Water Saving Tips website and will air this summer on KION channel 5/46, the Spanish TV station Telemundo 23, KSBW, Santa Cruz Community Television and Watsonville's public access channel 70. Videos will also be shown before movies at the Cinema 9 in Santa Cruz.
The following videos were chosen for their level of visual, sound and editing quality and most importantly, for their messages to inspire water-wise gardening.
Top Winning Videos: They will receive $500 for their video production.
Drought-Tolerant Plants by Malia Kesslery from Aptos High
Three Easy Ways to be More Water Wise by Winston Mattwandel from Scotts Valley High School
Winning Videos: They will receive $350 per video team.
Water Conservation by Rosemary Ceja from Watsonville High School
Las Nativas Son Amigas by Azucena Lopez, Brianna Lopez, Xochitl Martinez from Pajaro Valley High School
Be Wise in Your Garden by Chase McCrystal from Carmel High School
Types of Gardening by Jessica Zavala, Jasmin Tapia, Jasmine Jimenez and Jasmine Limon from Watsonville High School
Honorable mentions
Capitan Aqua by Gustavo Nunez and Angel Valdez from Watsonville High School
Water Conservation WHS Video Academy by Juan Garcia Vega from Watsonville High School
Water Wise Gardening 2019 by Maria Vasquez-Gonzalez from Watsonville High School
The WCC and the WAC also honored the following teachers and schools who encouraged and assisted with participation in the contest. This year the teacher who taught the top winning students, Joel Domhoff received $300 and the school from Monterey County who turned in the most videos was awarded $300 towards their video production program. The most videos that were turned in were from the classes of Jacob June from Gonzales High School - and from the classes of Mark Andrews and Joel Domhoff at Scotts Valley High School.
The top winners' teachers will get certificates of appreciation; Joel Domhoff (Aptos High School), Dale Poor (Watsonville High School), Kyla Plumlee (Pajaro Valley High School), and Joe Mello (Carmel High School)
The Water Awareness Committee, and The Water Conservation Coalition commend all student participants. We especially thank the teachers who supported the video contest by instructing the students their video creation skills, and for giving class credit to students who completed videos for the contest.
Top winning video production students, Winston Mattwandel from Scotts Valley High School and Malia Kesslery from Aptos High, and their teacher Joel Domhoff with staff member, Vai Campbell in front of the Capitola City Chambers.
Top winning video production students, Winston Mattwandel from Scotts Valley High School and Malia Kesslery from Aptos High, and their teacher Joel Domhoff with the board of Directors of Soquel Creek Water District and staff member, Vai Campbell.
About WCC and WAC
The Water Conservation Coalition of Santa Cruz County (WCC), and the Monterey County Water Awareness Committee (WAC) are made up of water agencies, Cities and other organizations working together to promote water awareness and water conservation in the Monterey Bay Area.