Alliance PSA Winners Announced!

Winners of the EBTV PSA (Public Service Announcement) Contest sponsored by the Alliance for the Prevention of Alcoholism & Drug Abuse were announced June 14. Contest entries were accepted from East Brunswick teenagers, and focused on substance abuse prevention. Scripts and fully produced PSAs were accepted.

The two winning entries were "Drunken Family," produced by Nancy Young, Mike Buszczak, and Jessica Leff; and "Family Album," produced by Liza Gomelski, Jillian Alexander, and Samantha Berdoff. All are students in Ms. Lynne Elson's class, "The Art of Creating TV & Film," at Churchill Junior High School.

Judging was extremely difficult this year, because there were so many exceptionally good entries. We received 25 entries. This was the first year that finished PSAs were accepted (in addition to scripts on paper), and the judges were amazed at the sophistication and quality of the PSAs. Because it was the first year we accepted finished PSAs, it was a real learning experience for us. Unfortunately, one of the things we discovered eliminated quite a few excellent entries: PSAs that showed teens appearing to do drugs or drink alcohol had a very distressing effect on the adults judging them. As soon as we saw that sort of drama, we knew that we did not want to televise it on EBTV. Next year, on the application form for the contest, we will state clearly that no entries should show people appearing to do drugs or alcohol. I apologise to the students who entered the contest this year with PSAs that were eliminated for this reason. I also strongly encourage these producers to enter the contest next year, because it's clear that they have a lot of talent and skill.

EBTV will televise the winning PSAs, and interviews with the producers and Ms. Lynne Elson on This Week in East Brunswick on June 22. We will also televise runners-up (those that do not show teens appearing to do drugs or alcohol) in the evenings, throughout the summer.

Congratulations to the winners, and to everyone who participated - you really did an outstanding job! Special thanks to Ms. Elson, whose creativity, enthusiasm, and support of her students made this a very successful cooperative enterprise between the Alliance, the township, and the schools.