Utah Knights of Columbus opens video contest for public service announcements by high school students

Friday, Mar. 11, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — The Knights of Columbus Utah State Council has introduced a new video public service announcement contest to promote alcohol and substance abuse awareness.   

The contest is open to all Utah Catholic high school students in grades 9-12. 

“The video public service announcement contest is like the poster contest, only this time we want the students to produce a 30-second video public service announcement just like a television ad that demonstrates the harm caused to individuals, families and society by alcohol and substance abuse,” said Greg Keller, Utah Knights of Columbus State Advocate. 

The annual Substance and Alcohol Awareness Poster contest, which has been offered by the international Knights of Columbus for many years, is open to all young people between the ages of 8 and 14. The Utah Knights wanted to extend that to a new audience, said Andy Airriess, Utah Knights of Columbus State Secretary.  

“Rather than involving posters, we wanted to use newer technologies. Any cell phone now has a camera, and editing can be done on a cell phone as well,” said Airriess. “High schoolers also have a lot of creativity, and we wanted to tap into that. For now, the contest is in Utah only, but if it is successful and we get a lot of high-quality entries, and we can get the attention of our Supreme Council in New Haven, Conn., the contest can be extended to national and international venues.”

The judges of the PSA contest will be members of the Utah State Knights of Columbus Council. 

The judging criteria areas will be clarity and strength of the message of the PSA (50 percent), creativity (30 percent) and production quality (20 percent. )

Prizes will be first place, $100; second place, $50; and third place, $25.

All entries are due by May 15. Details and entry forms can be found online at http://utahknights.org/programs.