StudentCam is C-SPAN’s annual national video documentary competition that encourages students to think critically about issues that affect our communities and our nation. 2024 marked the 20th anniversary of the competition and we invited middle and high school students to create a short documentary addressing the theme, “Looking Forward while Considering the Past.”
9th grade student Dermott Foley from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland won 1st Prize in the High School East division for his documentary, “The Promise of Langley Park: The Purple Line, Climate Change and Reimagining the Future of America’s Suburbs.” As a 1st Prize winner, Dermott will receive $3,000 in prize money.
C-SPAN is funded by America’s cable and satellite television companies, who also support StudentCam. In Silver Spring, C-SPAN is available locally through Comcast.
“We are proud to continue our longstanding partnership with C-SPAN to help provide a platform for students across the region to share their voice on the issues important to them,” said Misty Allen, Vice President of Government Affairs & Community Impact for Comcast’s Beltway Region. “We congratulate Dermott on an outstanding achievement.”
PRESS:
- Press Release: Silver Spring Students Win Top Prizes in C-SPAN Video Documentary Competition (Google Doc)
- Article: Maryland student wins C-SPAN competition with Purple Line documentary (WTOP)
StudentCam 2024 First Prize: "The Promise of Langley Park"
Congratulatory Messages and Recognition



Written by studentcam
Recent Posts
- 2025 Grand Prize – “Teens, Social Media & the Fentanyl Overdose Crisis” by Dermott Foley
- 2025 1st Prize High School Eastern Division – “Saving Sudan: U.S. Aiding in a Forgotten Crisis” by Daniel Aasa
- 2025 1st Prize High School Central Division – “The Road to Vision Zero” by Ben Kurian
- 2025 1st Prize High School Western Division – “No Sanctuary: Addressing Transnational Repression in the Next Four Years” by Anonymous
- 2025 1st Prize Middle School – “One Party, Two Party, Red Party, Blue Party. But What About Third Parties?” by Sofia Ou, Eva Ingram, & Eliana Wei