Students from Mountain View schools cleaned up in the third annual EmPower Silicon Valley Short Film Competition sponsored by Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE).
The Sunnyvale-based green energy aggregator asked local students to make films illustrating the transition to clean energy around the themes “Go Electric” and “The Power of Community.”
Valerie Wong and April Beyersdorf from St. Francis High School won the Community Enthusiasm Award for their film “One Community, One Future.” The award came with a $3,000 scholarship.
Among the entrants who won honorable mention awards of $2,000 each was Allison Cheng from Mountain View High School for Best Music Video for “The Clean Energy Song.”
“As high schoolers, our options to fix the world’s environmental issues often seem limited, as we can’t easily write laws regarding climate change or acquire environmental conservation jobs,” Allison said in a statement. “Making creative content about climate change and clean energy is an amazing and enjoyable way for students to make change in our community besides simply raising awareness.”
The EmPower Silicon Valley Competition is an SVCE education initiative. The short films were judged by a panel of SVCE board members and staff members.
“Each year I am delighted to see what students come up with to creatively tell stories and educate their parents, community and peers about climate change issues and solutions,” said SVCE Board Chair George Tyson, a Los Altos Hills councilmember, in a statement.
View the winning short films at SVCleanEnergy.org/Empower-SV.