MERIDIAN, Idaho — The West Ada School District partnered with Regence Blueshield of Idaho recently for a campaign to bring awareness to mental health among youth.
- Wednesday Wellness focuses on mental health awareness among youth
- West Ada School District partners with Regence Blue Shield for P.S.A. contest
- Three students from Rocky Mountain High School win
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
When the West Ada School District partnered with Regence Blueshield of Idaho for a campaign to bring awareness to mental health among the youth, they really didn’t know what the students would come up with. The idea…to ask students in the district’s video technology classes to create compelling 15 second videos to tackle mental health issues.
West Ada director of athletics and activities Jason Warr was there to hand out gift cards to Scott Hedgpeth, Ethan Boyer, and Michael Fugarino. The three work as a team to create a 15 second public service announcement focusing on mental health awareness among youth.
Warr addressed the class before handing out gift cards. “We made this competition because we know it was important the message is very important being high school kids, social media has taken over our lives a lot of stress’s in life a lot going on.”
So when Scott, Ethan, and Michael paired off they knew immediately knew what they were up against. Ethan Boyer explains. “The youth in school have a lot of assignments, they can get crazy because they’re all due at the same time plus with other school activities it can make it hard to have a balanced life, it’s good to get it out there so kids know what to do and stuff.”
So how do you start producing the message in 15 seconds?
Scott Hedgpeth says once they got going everything clicked. “The start would be rapid and close and tight to make you feel uncomfortable to put stress on the viewer and at the end do a wide shot sitting by a campfire so you feel relaxed.”
Those fifteen seconds can be one of the most important fifteen seconds any student will hear.
Michael Fugarino put it this way. “To make them feel more welcomed in society because I know not everyone wants to open up so that’s one way I guess to open up.”
Congratulations to Scott, Ethan and Michael for a job well done.
