“To Flush or Not to Flush” High School Video Contest Winners Announced—Shea Dunifon

“To Flush or Not to Flush” High School Video Contest Winners Announced

Shea Dunifon

While William Shakespeare’s Hamlet might not have ever recited in his soliloquy the line, “To flush, or not to flush, that is the question,” the 2021 high school video contest took some literary inspiration from the classic tale of tragedy to pose this very question to Florida students. While Shakespeare probably didn’t have any issues with clogged sewer pipes filled with unwanted items, like wipes and the occasional cell phone, the times have surely changed since he published “Hamlet” in 1603.

In 2020, the Florida Water Environment Association (FWEA) Public Communications and Outreach Committee (PCOC) sponsored its second video contest for Florida high schoolers that resulted in 15 student entries from two counties. The goal of the contest was to challenge students to create a short video that explains where wastewater goes after the flush and/or explains what does or does not belong down a toilet.

This year, the PCOC received an astonishing 52 video entries from nine counties, including Clay, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Sarasota, and St. Johns. The video entries ranged from public service announcements and cartoons to animations and comedic mock news reports. Notably, many of the videos highlighted the skills and interests of a younger generation: public speaking, painting (visual arts), poetry, science fiction, computer animation, Lego building, television production, and lots of potty humor.

While the ultimate goal of the contest is to inspire students to create a video that raises awareness of the industry, it also provides students and teachers a financial incentive to win. In 2021, the PCOC awarded $2500 in cash prizes to five students and three teachers. The prizes awarded to teachers are intended for them to use in their classrooms for supplies. This year, the PCOC awarded more money to teachers than in past years to encourage them to have their students enter.

To participate in the contest, individual students or teams submitted entry forms to the PCOC and uploaded their finished videos to YouTube. Judges rated the videos for quality, entertainment value, creativity, accuracy, and ability to follow directions (e.g., was the video 45 seconds in length or less).

In 2021, the level of quality (and creativity) made judging difficult, as there were lots of amazing entries to choose from, and a second round of judging was made available to FWEA Connects attendees who voted at the FWEA virtual booth.

The PCOC is proud to announce the 2021 video contest winners as follows: S First place: Leo Meng and Hubert Pilichowski – Strawberry Crest High School, Hillsborough

County. Teacher: Jennifer Sherrouse S Second place: Arik Karem – Alexander W.

Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Palm Beach

County. Teacher: Ruby Hernandez S Third place: Aeron Cubangbang and Brianna Alfaro – Seminole Ridge High School, Palm

Beach County. Teacher: Earle Wright S Honorable mention: Emily Singer – Alexander

W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Palm Beach

County. Teacher: Ruby Hernandez S Honorable mention: Ielyzaveta Myronenko – St. Cloud High School, Osceola County.

Teacher: Kimberlee McMillan

The PCOC would also like to recognize the high school video contest subcommittee for its efforts in making this contest a success. The committee included: S Debbie Sponsler, Orange County Utilities S Melody Gonzalez, Black and Veatch S Mary Rose Cox, Toho Water S Amy Tracy, Dewberry S Ashley Dirou, Grundfos S Ron Trygar, University of Florida TREEO

Center S Suzanne Mechler, CDM Smith

The PCOC would also like to thank Alex Maas (Heyward), Kristiana Dragash (Carollo), Alexander Kraemer (Thermal Process Systems), Shawn Yang (Hillsborough County), Jerry Cantrell (Pinellas County Schools), and Rodney Hyde (Manatee County) for spreading the word about the contest. We know that this list is probably much longer and there are many others who helped to promote the contest, and we appreciate you, too!

The PCOC video contest subcommittee will begin planning for the 2022 contest this summer and is always in need of more volunteers to help promote the contest to their local high schools. If you are interested in volunteering, please email me at sdunifon@pinellascounty.org. To learn more about the contest, please visit https://fwea.org/video_contest.php. To view all the 2021 entries, visit the FWEA YouTube channel and click on “Playlists.”

Shea Dunifon is education coordinator for the Pinellas County’s South Cross Bayou education program and chair of the Public Communications and Outreach Committee. S