9th grade students Rene Ortega, Nolan Sheets, and Roman Leonor from Long Beach Polytechnic High School in California won 2nd Prize in the High School Western division for their documentary, “Crime: Perception vs. Reality.” As 2nd Prize winners, the team will split $1,500 in prize money.
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 Long Beach, C-SPAN is available locally through Spectrum.
Press:
- Press Release: Long Beach Students Win Prizes in C-SPAN’s National Video Documentary Competition (Google Doc)
- Article: Long Beach Poly students win honors in national documentary contest (Signal Tribune)
StudentCam 2025 2nd Prize: "Crime: Perception vs. Reality"
Congratulatory Messages and Recognition
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D)
Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA)
Congressman Robert Garcia (D-CA)
Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA)
Long Beach, California Mayor Rex Richardson (D)
