9th grade student Ben Kurian from Olentangy Liberty High School in Powell, OH won 1st Prize in the High School Central division for his documentary about road and traffic safety, “The Road to Vision Zero.” As a 1st Prize winner, Ben will receive $3,000 in prize money. This marks Ben’s 3rd consecutive year of winning a prize for his documentaries entered in StudentCam. View his other prize-winning documentaries here.
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. 2025 marked the 21st year of the competition and in this presidential inaugural year, we asked students to explore and analyze matters of personal, local or national importance by addressing the theme — “Your Message to the President: What issue is most important to you or your community?”
C-SPAN is funded by America’s cable and satellite television companies, who also support StudentCam. In Powell, C-SPAN is available locally through Spectrum.
Press:
- Press Release: Powell Student Wins Prize in C-SPAN’s National Documentary Competition (Google Doc)
- Article: Local student wins national documentary competition (Fox28)
- Article: Olentangy student wins first place in documentary contest (NBC4)
- Article: Powell teen takes first prize in C-Span student documentary contest (WOSU)
- Article: Fascinating Ohio: Teen Edition – State Fair Junior Fair Board Member, Ninja Warriors, documentarian (WOSU)
StudentCam 2025 1st Prize: "The Road to Vision Zero"
Congratulatory Messages and Recognition
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) and Lt. Governor Jim Tressel (R)
Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH)
Ohio State Senate President Robert McColley (R) and Senator Andrew O. Brenner (R)
Ohio State Representative Brian Lorenz (R)
Olentangy Schools Superintendent Todd Meyer
Ben delivers a speech to the International Bridge Toll and Turnpike Association's 2025 Technology Summit in Dallas, TX
