“Giving back” is a frequent term used here at Prep. As a school that promotes developing men and women of vision in spirit, mind, and body, it makes sense that giving back is a common theme seen around the school. This value of goodwill was especially seen earlier this month when Prep participated in Erie News Now’s giving back event. This partnership between Erie News Now Sunrise and other nonprofit organizations resulted in a city-wide competition known as: “How Cool is Your School.”
This competition is characterized by the participating schools creating a student-produced 90-second promotional video that features what each school is all about. The school with the best video, as voted by the public, wins. The theme for this year’s “How Cool is Your School” is, fittingly, giving back. By each school partnering with a nonprofit organization, the winner of the competition earns the nonprofit of their choice a professional commercial with Erie News Now that is worth $5,000.
Mass Media teacher Mr. Puskar facilitated the development of Prep’s participation in this event.
“This contest is all about giving back”, Mr. Puskar said. “The video we made highlights what we do at Cathedral Prep and Mother Theresa Academy. That’s what made the decision of entering this contest a no-brainer. We are constantly giving back here at Prep through outreach programs, dress downs, and fundraisers. Our goal is to always keep an eye out for our community.”
The Mass Media class at Prep is responsible for making this video in hopes of winning the contest. The nonprofit they chose to represent was Shriners Hospital. This choice was carefully selected by the students because Shriners has positively impacted some of their lives.
Junior Connor Wolf is one of the Mass Media students who worked on the project.
“My participation in this event was important for me because the winnings would be going to Shriners,” Connor said. “Shriners has helped my little sister and I through different surgeries. Knowing that the money would go there motivated my classmates and I to work as hard as we could to win this competition.”
Eighteen schools entered the Erie News Now competition this year. Cathedral Prep earned the honor of being one of four finalists. The top four schools remaining were guaranteed an hour-long portion of Erie News Now Sunrise newscast live from within their school as well as a $250 check that goes out to their nonprofit choice. At Prep, students were encouraged and welcome to come be on the live broadcast on Friday, Nov. 1. The response was overwhelming.
“Friday’s live broadcast went really really well,” Mr. Puskar said. “I am very pleased with the turnout we got. Even the crew from Erie News Now was blown away with how our students handled the broadcast.”
The final step in this competition is the public voting. Out of the top four schools chosen to be finalists, one school will be the elected winner. Voting is open to the public and ends on Nov. 30. The link to vote is attached at the bottom. You can vote everyday until the polls close.
Mass Media student Elijah Stewart, a junior at Prep, also worked on the project.
“By entering this competition, we showcased how we can help the community,” Elijah said. “It’s important to help others, and I hope that we can continue to support the good work that the nonprofits in Erie do for the people in need.”
Cast your vote here: https://www.erienewsnow.com/coolschool#/rounds/1/gallery
