2026 3rd Prize Middle School Division – “From the Desk of Thomas Jefferson: The Legacy of the Deleted Clause” by Ruby Elmakki, Madeline Massey, & Sonia Prykupenko

Ruby Elmakki, Madeline Massey, & Sonia Prykupenko from Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring, Maryland won 3rd Prize in the Middle School Division of the 2026 C-SPAN StudentCam documentary competition for their video titled, “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. As 3rd Prize winners, they receive $750 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. 2026 marked the 22nd year of the competition and in this semiquincentennial year celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we asked students in grades 6-12 to create a short (5:00-6:00 minute) video documentary on either a historical or contemporary topic that related to the competition theme, “America’s 250th Anniversary”
Exploring the American Story through the Declaration of Independence.

C-SPAN is funded by America’s cable, satellite television and streaming companies, who also support StudentCam. In Silver Spring, C-SPAN is available locally through Comcast.

Press:

• Press Release: Washington, D.C. Area Students Win Prizes in C-SPAN’s National Documentary Competition (Google Doc)

• Article: Montgomery County, D.C. Students Win National Honors in C-SPAN Documentary Competition (The MoCo Show)