Plymouth South Students Win Film and News Broadcasting Awards

The Plymouth South Journalism program has had another successful year, marked by last week’s fourth straight “Best in New England” recognition by the New England Scholastic Press Association. The journalism students in Panther TV and the film students in graphic arts have recently received numerous awards and honors.

Plymouth South won three awards at the M.O.V.E. film festival held May 3. Travis Lovell, Jon Tellier, Amber Hoisington, Aidan Callahan won first place for Best Entertainment Short for their video named Travis the Surgeon. Travis Lovell, Jon Tellier, Amber Hoisington, Kelli Wagner, Kim O'Brien won second place for Best Commercial for Locker Room Theft, and Aidan Mulligan won third place for Best Sports Video for Plymouth South Pep Rally.

"The students in graphics are so creative and work so hard to produce the best quality videos, it was great to see their peers recognize this. They were a bit surprised to find out they won, but I can see the confidence growing in them with every project they produce," Adam Smith, the graphic arts and visual communications teacher at Plymouth South, said.

For the fourth year in a row, Plymouth South’s Panther TV program won the “All New England Award” for Best News Program in New England earlier this month at the New England Scholastic Press Association at Boston University. Panther TV has only been in existence for four years, and has taken home the top prize every year. This year, Plymouth South tied Plymouth North’s PNN for the honor. 

"It’s wonderful for the students to see their hard work rewarded," Erik Walker, Panther TV co-teacher, said. "We have stressed serious, meaningful reporting. These stories aren’t easy to do well, and we’re genuinely honored to see them honored."

Serious stories covered by Panther TV this year range from the dangers of social media, cancer’s impact on families, dangerous driving, and ways to empower women.

In addition to the entire news team being recognized, several individuals were honored for reporting excellence.  Sydney Stelter and Amie Evans won an award for excellence in News Feature for their in-depth investigation into dangerous driving and its impact on teenagers.  

Chad Senechal, Bethanne Keane, and Amie Evans were honored for their series of reports from Washington DC on the Presidential Inauguration, and Panther TV won the award for outstanding news series coverage.

Micaela Forniciari was honored for her feature story on a student’s attempt to empower women through a photography and social project at Plymouth South called The Girl Effect.

“I’m so impressed by how the students of Panther TV have learned how to produce a great story so quickly. From camera work to editing, they were off and running right away, and their attention to detail really comes out in every story. The show’s success is really a credit to how much work the students put into it,” Smith said.

These awards follow earlier successes at the New England Emmy Awards in April. At those awards, Sam Cheung was awarded an honorable mention for Best Writing for his Remembering Newtown story. The story highlighted the ways Plymouth students reached out to help victims of the Newtown, Conn. school shooting.

Aidan Mulligan won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Reporting for his coverage of the Plymouth South Pep Rally.

Travis Lovell, Jon Tellier, Amber Hoisington, Kelli Wagner, Kim O'Brien won an Honorable Mention Emmy for Best Commercial for Locker Room Theft.

“It’s safe to say the journalism program continues to be impressive at Plymouth South,” Walker said.

More school news on Patch:

• Plymouth North Senior Attends International Science Fair
• Plymouth South Chemistry Teacher Selected for Honor Society
• 17 Plymoutheans Graduate from UMass Dartmouth