First Lady Jenny Sanford Awards Garrett Academy of Technology Students $1,500 for Runner-Up Video in December's Healthy SC School Video Contest

Columbia, SC- January 9, 2008- First Lady Jenny Sanford presented a cash award to December’s Healthy SC School Video Contest winners yesterday at the
Garrett Academy of Technology in Charleston County. 

Reginald Scott, Dasiree Manigault, Judson Butler, Clarissa Lesueu, Shar – keas Jones, and Courtney Button will share the prize of $1,500.  The Garrett Academy of Technology received a $100 gift certificate to Wal-Mart.  The productions class only has two small video cameras and an editing program, so they hope to use this Wal-Mart gift to add to their production resources.

So far, students at Garrett have submitted three videos, The Coffin, Healthy Intervention, and Let’s Get Healthy. Shavis Davis who starred as a honey bun addict in Healthy Intervention told Mrs. Sanford that since he made his video, he’s already lost some weight and hasn’t had a honey bun since!  

The Coffin shows students feeding the vending machine while an original poem that uses the analogy of a vending machine as a coffin is recited by a chorus of student voices.  Reginald Scott wrote the poem, Judson Butler composed the background music, and Dasiree Manigault, Clarissa Lesueu, and Courtney Button recited the poem.

The Coffin
The machine is hungry all the time
You feed it quarters, nickels and dimes
It feeds you diabetes, depression and heart failure

It traps your mind

Luring you with its tastes and false illusions

You see, its numbers represent the days of your life
E4 or D12, it does not matter the plight

Feed it more, it’s never satisfied It gives you change, but will you change?
A coffin filled with honey buns, donuts and cheese curls

Is that how you want to leave this world? 

Students in the health science program attended the press event to learn more about the First Lady’s Healthy SC Challenge.  The culinary students prepared a healthy reception following the event with fresh fruit served in a carved out pineapple, grilled vegetables with a light dipping sauce, and a tropical tea punch sweetened with Splenda.  

Ann Burnett from Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC and Tara Stewart of Wal-Mart also attended the press event.  BCBSSC provided the funds for this cash award and Wal-Mart donated the gift certificate.  Other sponsors of the Healthy SC School Video Contest include OurStage, Coca Cola Bottling Company Consolidated, The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, Subway, Palmetto Project and DHEC.

The contest runs through January 31st, with video submissions accepted up until January 23, 2008. Each month, the video in the #1 spot will receive $3,500 cash and the runner up will receive $1,500.  Schools of the top two videos each month will also receive prizes.  

OurStage, the only purely democratic online competition where the fans decide who’s the best in emerging music, film and video, is hosting the contest on a special channel created solely for the Healthy SC School Video Contest.  OurStage’s unique judging engine ensures that each piece is judged fairly by the viewers-no rigging and no cheating.

To view The Coffin and other Healthy SC videos visit www.ourstage.com/healthyscjudge

You can also link to this contest page at www.healthysc.gov where you can access all the contest rules and where you can fill out an application to enter the contest.

Photo 1: Reginald Scott, Mrs. Scott, and First Lady Jenny Sanford Photo 2: Creators of The Coffin