The RNN staff was selected as a high school regional finalist of the Celebrate Texas Public Schools Student Video Contest, Monday, Feb. 16. The contest is sponsored by Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union.

“Whenever we found out we got nominated as finalists for the ‘It Matters’ video, it felt really good because not only myself but others around me and had put a lot of hard work into the video and being able to feel like we were being recognized for something, since we haven’t ever really been recognized for anything broadcast has done yet,” junior Zac Franklin said.

When RNN sponsor Leah Sneed was e-mailed about being a finalist, she texted the students who made the video.

“Waking up and seeing Sneed’s e-mail, she sent me a screenshot of her email, it felt amazing knowing all the hard work we had done and put into this video had paid off,’ Franklin said. “Even though it was only a sixty second video and even though it’s not gone mainstream, we had definitely worked our butts off to make it look really good and really professional.”

Fifty-one schools entered the contest, and only seven finalists were chosen, but the RNN staff isn’t worried about the competition. They worked hard to make a quality, professional video.

The prompt for the contest is “It Matters,” so the video shows the different classes and programs around school that are important to Raider Nation. It features people like principal John Graham, librarian Chin Arritola, and band director Lee Crochet.

“We came up with the script,” junior Cameron Holland said. “Mr. Graham came up with his stuff, all the rest of them we asked them to say that and that it matters.”

The students who filmed the clips had a lot of fun interacting with teachers and faculty, there were many laughs while making bloopers. The video shows clips of the different teachers and faculty showing that every program in school is important to the students and faculty.

“I put a lot of time into editing it and making sure every shot looked great and I also made sure that the music was at the right volume, that all of the effects we had at certain parts of the video were all nicely and carefully picked and crafted,” Franklin said.

The first place prize for the contest is $1000, which would go to the entire school and bring recognition to the broadcast department.

“The $1000, I’m not really sure what happens if we do win it, it is being won for the school, but our program will for sure be recognized, which is another great title because you see in the hallways that, football has done this, basketball has done this, track and swim have done this,” Franklin said.

RNN is how most students and teachers get their daily news about what happens on campus.

“You’ve never really seen anything in the hallway about broadcast, and that would be great to just be able to say, ‘Hey, that’s our poster,’ or ‘Hey, that’s our accomplishment and we’re getting recognized for it,’” Franklin said.

The winner of the video contest is expected to be announced shortly.