Teams of students win top prizes

Salem – Students at Parkrose High School in Portland won $500 first- and $400 second-place prizes for videos they entered into a contest designed to increase awareness about workplace safety for young workers. The school also won matching amounts of prize money.

The video that garnered first place, “Voices in My Head,” depicts a young worker who, under threat of firing, is ordered to do a job he’s never done before. The worker struggles with pro-and-con voices in his head, eventually making the right ? and safe ? decision: His job shouldn’t cost him his future.

Leah Coyle, a senior who directed the video, said she has friends who have been told to do unsafe work. She hopes the video helps young workers overcome such situations. “I want my peers to be safe,” she said.

The video that won second place, “#47,” centers on a worker who presses the wrong button on a human-cloning machine, coming close to unleashing destruction. After disaster is avoided, the worker is reminded by his supervisor about the importance of speaking up when you don’t know how to do a job safely.

Rae Millard, a senior who directed the video, said he’s honored to be part of a project that puts the spotlight on young worker safety. And he learned a lot along the way. “I didn’t know that it was much of an issue until this project was introduced to me,” he said.

The creators of the top videos were presented their awards on Friday during a special event at Parkrose High School. Sponsored by the Oregon Young Employee Safety Coalition (O[yes]), the annual video contest focuses on teen workers, who are twice as likely to be injured on the job, according to federal studies.

To inspire teens to stay safe on the job, this year’s contest carried the theme of “Speak up. Work safe.” Students were asked to develop a video with a teen job safety and health message, and were judged on creativity, production value, youth appeal, and the overall safety and health message.

Students worked in teams to create videos. The Parkrose High School students who won first- and second-place prizes are:

First place ($500)
“Voices in My Head”
Producer/director: Leah Coyle
Actors: Keely Byerley (senior), Coyle, Salena Garver (senior), Matt Tremblay (senior)
Editors: Coyle, Garver

Second place ($400)
“#47”
Producer/director: Rae Millard
Script: Mitchel Hummel (junior)
Actors: Millard, Sophia Swim (junior), Janos Wilson (sophomore)
Camera: Thomas Poupore (junior)
Editor: Millard