PRESS RELEASE: STUDENTS FROM EASTERN MIDDLE SCHOOL ARE WINNERS IN C-SPAN’S 2026 STUDENTCAM DOCUMENTARY CONTEST
300 University Boulevard, East
Silver Spring, MD 20901
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2026
STUDENTS FROM EASTERN MIDDLE SCHOOL ARE WINNERS IN C-SPAN’S 2026 STUDENTCAM DOCUMENTARY CONTEST
SILVER SPRING, MD (March 11, 2026) – C-SPAN announced the winners of the national 2026 StudentCam documentary competition awarding a total of $100,000 in cash prizes to all winning student documentaries across the United States.
At Eastern Middle School, a total of eight documentaries, consisting of 15 students in the eighth grade, are among the winners. C-SPAN will be recognizing our students later in the school year at Eastern Middle School’s Annual C-SPAN StudentCam Ceremony.
Each year since 2006 C-SPAN has partnered with its local cable television providers in communities nationwide to invite middle and high school students to produce short documentaries about a subject of national importance. This year students addressed the theme, “America’s 250th Anniversary: Exploring the American Story through the Declaration of Independence.”
In response, over 3,500 students from across the country participated and Eastern’s winners were:
Second Prize Winner
Ethan Chen, Rahm Isaacman, & Daniel Kim
8th Grade
The Right to Participate, about campaign finance
Eastern Middle School
Silver Spring, MD
Cable Provider: Comcast
Teacher Adviser: Warren Scheib
Airing on C-SPAN: Sunday, April 5
$1,500 cash prize awarded to students
$250 cash prize awarded to the school
Third Prize Winners
Ruby Elmakki, Madeline Massey, & Sonia Prykupenko
8th Grade
From the Desk of Thomas Jefferson: The Legacy of the Deleted Clause, about how the removal of Thomas Jefferson’s paragraph from the Declaration of Independence about slavery affected the Civil Rights Movement
Eastern Middle School
Silver Spring, MD
Cable Provider: Comcast
Teacher Adviser: Warren Scheib
$750 cash prize awarded to students
$125 cash prize awarded to the school
Florence Ou & Alma Naaman
8th Grade
Eastern Middle School
Silver Spring, MD
Cable Provider: Comcast
Teacher Adviser: Warren Scheib
$750 cash prize awarded to students
$125 cash prize awarded to the school
Chelsea Chen
8th Grade
Eastern Middle School
Silver Spring, MD
Cable Provider: Comcast
Teacher Adviser: Warren Scheib
$750 cash prize awarded to student
$125 cash prize awarded to the school
Honorable Mention Winners
Henok Tussa
8th Grade
Eastern Middle School
Silver Spring, MD
Cable Provider: Comcast
Teacher Adviser: Warren Scheib
$250 cash prize awarded to student
Tina Xin
8th Grade
One Nation, Under Fire, about gun violence and the impact of political polarization on gun legislation
Eastern Middle School
Silver Spring, MD
Cable Provider: Comcast
Teacher Adviser: Warren Scheib
$250 cash prize awarded to student
Zadie Mosher & Noor Karimov
8th Grade
Eastern Middle School
Silver Spring, MD
Cable Provider: Comcast
Teacher Adviser: Warren Scheib
$250 cash prize awarded to students
Jeremy Zhang & Haohan Wang
8th Grade
Grievances of the States, about the constitutionality of the recent National Guard deployments
Eastern Middle School
Silver Spring, MD
Cable Provider: Comcast
Teacher Adviser: Warren Scheib
$250 cash prize awarded to students
Winning videos are available to view at https://www.studentcam.org/studentcam-2026-prize-winners/ and may be used in a broadcast with attribution to C-SPAN. 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.
EASTERN MS CONTACTS:
Lisa Shorts, Principal
Katherine Estes, Humanities & Communication Magnet Coordinator
Sydney Axelrod, Humanities English Teacher
Adam Heifetz, Humanities U.S. History Teacher
Jacqueline M Reilly-Romo, Humanities U.S. History Teacher
Gwen Rosero-Williams, Humanities English Teacher
Warren Scheib, Humanities Media Teacher